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HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF 
WESTERN NEW YORK 



THE SENECA INDIANS 

PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 

MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 

MARY JEMISON 

JEMIMA WILKINSON 

JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 

MORGAN AND ANTIMASONRY 

THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 

BY 

E. W. VANDERHOOF 



/ have here only made a collection of culled 
facts, and have brought nothing of my own but 
the thread that ties them together. 

— Montaigne. 



MCMVII 

PRINTED FOR PRIVATK DISTRIBUTION BY 

THE MATTHEWS-NORTHRUP WORKS 

BUFFALO, NKW YORK 



.(rZ vr^ 



COPTBIOHT, 1907, BT 

E. W. Vandeehoof. 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two OoDies Received 
MAY 25 190r 
A Oopyrirht Entry ^ 

CLASS /\ XXc, No. 

COPY^. V 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

THE SENECA INDIANS, 1 

PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE, 

MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE, 33 

MARY JEMISON, 84 

JEMIMA WILKINSON, 107 

JOSEPH SMITH, JUNIOR, AND MORMONISM, 133 

MORGAN AND ANTIMASONRY, 186 

THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS, 208 



PREFACE 

(Written in 1887) 

10NCE asked an old friend, whose income was ten times 
greater than any personal use to which he could devote it, 
why he speculated in stocks? His reply was that he did so 
in order to keep his mind active. Upon reflection, I saw 
there was sound philosophy as well as Yankee shrewdness in the 
old gentleman's answer. He did not wish the world to go by him, 
but was determined, so long as he lived in it, to be of it, to keep 
abreast of the times and in the swim, and he knew the best way 
to accomplish this was to dabble a little in Wall Street, for the 
stock exchanges of the world are mirrors which reflect every 
light and shadow upon their surfaces. He might have set down 
and hugged and reinvested his income, might have grown into a 
moldy nuisance, as most men do who have money only, and whose 
only resource is to talk about it ; but he wisely preferred to take 
a hand in the enterprises going forward around him, and wear 
out rather than rust out. 

Having given up business some years ago on account of ill 
health, and determining upon my recovery not again to take 
an active hand in the dizzy games that are played on the stock 
exchange and the board of trade, yet at the same time wishing, 
like my old friend, to keep my mind active, I determined to look 
into the early history of that section of the State where I 
was bom and jot down such things as might be of interest 
to myself and possibly to others resident in the Genesee 
Country. 

Although my memory goes back to the tales of my grand- 
fathers, who were pioneers of the eighteenth century, I found 
myself lamentably ignorant of many important and prominent 
facts connected with our early history. Phelps and Gorham I 
had indeed heard of, but did not know that their purchase was 
made from the State of Massachusetts, and not from New York. 
Robert Morris was a familiar name in connection with Revolu- 
tionary history, but I was unaware that he had ever owned a 



rood of ground in this section.* The London Associates, Sir 
William Pulteney, William Hornby, and Patrick Colquhoun, I 
had never heard mentioned in connection with pioneer affairs. 
" The Holland Purchase " had a familiar sound in my ears, but 
of the details of that important transaction I knew nothing. 
Now, the fact that I was ignorant of local history would 
be of no consequence, and discreditable to me only provided 
means of ready information on the subject were at hand, and 
that a fair proportion of those around me possessed such informa- 
tion. But they do not, for the simple reason that no compre- 
hensive history of Western New York is now in existence. Tur- 
ner's volumes never had a general circulation and have long been 
out of print. It is doubtful whether one in five hundred of the 
present residents on the Massachusetts Pre-emption ever saw them. 
They are becoming rare books. Occasional copies are advertised 
for sale at three to five times their original cost. A dealer had 
my order more than three months before he was able to procure 
for me a copy of the " History of the Holland Purchase." " The 
Phelps and Gorham Purchase " is equally scarce. 

Big and bad as those volumes are, devoted as they are to 
almost every subject except the one announced on the title-page, 
if they were in free circulation this history would not have been 
undertaken. For no one knows better than I that I do not possess 
a literary faculty or a good " style," and am not well equipped 
either by nature, study, or practice for the task I have set 
myself. But something needed to be done, and done promptly. 
Our early annals were fast slipping away from the minds and 
memories of men. The pioneer is no longer here to recount 
the story of struggle and privation. The ring of his axe and 
the crack of his rifle died away as the twilight began to gather 
round the declining years of the nineteenth century. Not one 
remains whose farm was " articled " to him by Phelps and Gor- 
ham, and probably none who remembers when William and James 
Wadsworth settled in the Genesee Valley. I found that the 
young men and women growing up about me, the generation that 
has come upon the stage since the outbreak of the Civil War, 
were, like myself, sadly deficient in their knowledge of our early 
history. They seemed to think that handsome, commodious farm 
houses, substantial, gaily-painted out-buildings, thriving towns, 
and busy, populous cities had always existed here. To correct 

* Written at Clifton Springs. 



such impressions, to tell the younger generation of Western New 
Yorkers that there may be now living a few men and women who 
were born before any white habitations existed west of Seneca 
Lake, that a century has hardly elapsed since this highly culti- 
vated and populous region was an unbroken wilderness through 
which the Seneca Indians roamed at will, and to give them some 
notion of the resolute purpose, the patient toil, and the cheer- 
fully-endured privations which, after the lapse of a century, 
have made that wilderness to blossom like the rose, is the object of 
this compilation. And now a word or two regarding it. 

In the preface to his translation of the Ihad, Pope tells us 
that " Homer is universally allowed to have had the greatest 
Invention of any writer whatever. The praise of Judgment 
Virgil has justly contested with him, but his Invention remains 
yet unrivaled. Nor is it a wonder if he has ever been acknowl- 
edged the greatest of poets who most excelled in that which is 
the very foundation of poetry. It is the Invention that in dif- 
ferent degrees distinguishes all great geniuses — the utmost 
stretch of human study, learning, and industry, which masters 
everything besides, can never attain to this. It furnishes Art 
with all her materials, and without it Judgment itself can at best 
but steal wisely, for Art is only Hke a prudent steward that lives 
on managing the riches of nature." 

History affords little room for the exercise of Homer's wonder- 
ful faculty. It deals with a world of events and facts, and 
ceases to be valuable when it ceases to be veritable. Its dignity, 
its philosophy, and its lessons are worthless if not drawn from 
its truth. Invention has no place in its framework. Unless it 
be contemporaneous, it must to a great extent be based on pre- 
existing records. The ratiocinations of the author, his com- 
ments, inferences, and conclusions may or may not be of value. 
A good narrator may be narrow, unfair, and partisan as a com- 
mentator. It is generally conceded that the most eloquent his- 
torian of our time was a prejudiced man.* 

In this volume I have invented nothing. Those who read it 
must decide whether I have had the Judgment " to steal wisely." 

The Spectator says : " A great book is a great evil. Were all 
books reduced to their quintessence many a bulky author would 
make his appearance in a penny paper." Bearing this in mind, 
I determined from the outset that my work must be limited to 

* Macaulay. 



giving an outline of the principal events in our pioneer annals. 
To have gone into details, to have attempted even a meagre 
sketch of the early history of localities and of the Hves of those 
pioneers whose prominence might entitle them to mention, would 
have taken half a score of volumes rather than one. It is better 
to be incomplete than tedious, to set forth a few prominent facts 
which may fix themselves in the reader's mind, rather than pre- 
sent a vast mass of detail which he rejects at sight. The 
history of an adjoining county was carried on through two 
volumes of more than four hundred pages each, and left in an 
unfinished state on account of the ill health of its author. By 
shunning his voluminous error I hope to escape its conse- 
quences. 

It has been my endeavor herein to avoid tediousness, elegant 
writing, and impersonal dignity. My work is too frank and 
amateurish for the editorial " we," hence it is composed in the 
first person. " We " is falKng into desuetude even in news- 
paper work. 

My compilation is put forth in the hope that it may be of 
value to my neighbors of the present and future generations, 
and while I do not expect from it either fame, profit, or applause, 
may I not comfort myself with the reflection that though 

" The letters Cadmus gave " 
have not been employed with literary skill, they have not been 
devoted to an unworthy purpose? 

E. W. V. 

CHfton Springs, New York, 1889. 




RED JACKET 



INTRODUCTION 
THE SENECA INDIANS 

As monumental bronze unchanged his look; 
A soul that pity touched but never shook; 
Trained from his tree-rocked cradle to his bier. 
The fierce extremes of good and ill to brook 
Impassive — fearing but the shame of fear — 
A stoic of the woods — a man without a tear. 

— Campbell. 

THE predecessors of the white man In the Genesee Coun- 
try were the Seneca Indians. They were the most in- 
telhgent, numerous, and powerful of the six tribes which 
at the date of the Massachusetts cession (1786) formed 
the League of the Iroquois. These tribes or nations were the 
Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, and Tusca- 
roras, and occupied the central portion of the State of New York 
from the Hudson to Lake Erie, in the order indicated by their 
names. Originally the League consisted of but five nations ; 
the Tuscaroras, a kindred and fugitive tribe from North Caro- 
lina, having been admitted as a sixth nation about 1715. They 
were to some extent wards of the original five, and were without 
sachems, or voice in league government. These tribes or nations 
were found in possession of the country indicated at the period of 
the earliest Dutch settlement (1609), beyond which we have only 
their traditions to guide us as to the locality of their previous 
occupation, or their origin. 

The project of a league originated with the Onondagas, and 
tradition assigns the northern shore of Onondaga Lake as the 
place where the Iroquois sachems assembled to agree upon the 
terms of the compact by which they were to act as one people 
on all questions concerning their common welfare. The form 
of government adopted was based upon the family relation. The 
Indian name of the league, Ho-de-no-sau-nee, signifies a long 
house, and conveys the idea that Its occupants live in one cabin 
and form one great family. The Senecas being more numerous 



2 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

than any other two tribes combined were the hereditary door- 
keepers of the Long House, and were known as the first fire, the 
Mohawks, who kept the eastern door, being known as the fifth. 
Being the central fire, and for reasons of locahty and conveni- 
ence, meetings of the league were held among the Onondagas, 
but the sachems and warriors of all the tribes were of equal rank, 
dignity, and voice in conducting the affairs of the confederacy. 
Their form of government was oligarchical — the rule of the 
few — and up to the time of the Revolutionary War unanimous 
consent of all the tribes was necessary before entering upon any 
enterprises not merely local in their nature. War, peace, league 
legislation, and the government of conquered and subject tribes 
required unanimity. In 1776, the Oneidas refused to join the 
other tribes in making war upon the Colonies, and remained true 
to a treaty in which all had joined, promising a strict neutrality 
between King George and his rebellious subjects. 

Their laws were few and simple, and are perhaps a good illus- 
tration of the saying that the best government is that which 
governs least. Living in the hunter state they had no individual 
possessions — one Indian was as rich as another — and for this 
reason nine-tenths of the statutes that encumber the law books 
of civilized and enlightened nations were useless to these simple- 
minded, straightforward people. 

The league was interwoven into one political family by a law 
which forbade the young warriors and maidens of the same tribe 
to intermarry. A Mohawk warrior might marry an Oneida 
maiden, and a Cayuga maiden might become the wife of a Seneca 
or Mohawk warrior, but young people of the same tribe were 
forbidden to enter the marriage state. By this simple means 
the tribes became consolidated into one great family, and 
the warriors and women of one tribe regarded all other tribes 
of the league as brothers and sisters, as much so as though they 
had been children of the same parents. The children followed 
the condition of the mother. If she was a Seneca or Onondaga 
woman they were Senecas or Onondagas. These unschooled bar- 
barians were wise enough to know that parentage on one side 
is indisputable. All titles and rights of property were con- 
fined to the female line; as the mothers of the warriors, the 
squaws were held to be the rightful custodians and owners of 
the homes of the tribes. It was a knowledge of this fact that 
enabled Mr. Thomas Morris, at the Treaty of Big Tree (Gen- 



THE SENECA INDIANS 3 

eseo) in 1797, to reopen the council fires, and obtain from the 
women a cession which the eloquence of Red Jacket had persuaded 
the assembled sachems, chiefs, and warriors of the Seneca Nation 
to refuse to grant. 

The Iroquois can hardly be said to have had a criminal code. 
Witchcraft, in which they beUeved, was punishable with death. 
Any person could take the life of another when discovered in 
the act of witchcraft. Adultery was punished by whipping, 
but women only were presumed to be offenders. To the honor 
of the Indian, it must be said, that he was loyal and true in his 
domestic relations. The murderer was given over to the private 
vengeance of the friends and relatives of the victim. They 
could take his life whenever they found him, even after a lapse 
of years. The crime, however, might be condoned, and strenuous 
efforts were often made to that end. A belt of white wampum 
sent by the offender to the family of the slain was the usual mode 
of effecting a condonation. If not sent in due time, or if the 
family of the deceased refused to receive it, and remained im- 
placable, their vengeance was permitted to take its course. To 
the credit of the North American natives, it may be said that pre- 
vious to the introduction of ardent spirits among them crimes of 
any sort were of very rare occurrence. 

The women of the Iroquois arranged all marriages, the father 
never troubling himself about such matters. To have done so 
would have been to interfere with female rights, and these he 
respected as inflexibly as he guarded his own. Marriages of 
affection were unknown. The warrior and maiden, who, per- 
haps met for the first time at their betrothal, accepted one another 
as gifts from their respective mothers. There was little soci- 
ability between the sexes. The men went forth together on the 
war path, the chase, or for amusement, leaving the women to 
the companionship of their own sex. Sociability between male 
and female as it is understood in polite society had no existence 
amongst the Iroquois. The Indian was an aboriginal aristocrat. 
He was a sportsman, a warrior, and an hereditary legislator. 
Beyond the fashioning of his implements for hunting, fishing, and 
warfare, no labor soiled his hands. When not upon the war-path 
or beside the council fire, " he loved to lie a-basking in the sun," 
and did it. The squaws did all the drudgery out of doors and 
in. 

Strictly speaking, the Iroquois had no religious faith. They 



4 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

believed in the Great and Evil Spirits, who, according to their 
legend, were of finite origin, being brothers bom at the same 
birth, and destined to an endless existence. They ascribed to 
each creative power, believing that the Great Spirit created 
them, and everything that was good, useful, and beautiful; 
while the Evil Spirit originated monsters, reptiles, and noxious 
plants. Unlike some other tribes, the Iroquois did not believe 
heaven to be a " happy hunting ground." In their future abode 
they deemed subsistence to be no longer a necessity, and held 
that the spontaneous luxuries existing around them there were 
for the gratification of taste and not for the support of life. 
One of the most beautiful of all their simple beliefs was that there 
is a road from heaven to every man's door. But if the plain, hon- 
est truth must be told, it compels the statement that nearly all 
attempts to civilize and Christianize the red men have been fail- 
ures. " He asks no angels' wing, no seraphs' fire." He is 
almost absolutely without hope, fear, or affection. Hatred and 
revenge are his only prominent passions. The warrior who 
would caress his wife or children would be thought unfit for the 
sterner duties of life. The Indian is, and will forever be, " The 
Stoic of the woods, the man without a tear." 

Contact between white and red men has always been fatal to 
the latter. The Iroquois reached the summit of their power 
nearly two centuries ago. Previous to that period, their con- 
federacy was feared from the Hudson to the Mississippi. They 
gave laws to the conquered nations from the ice-bound region of 
Canada to the Carolinas. Their war whoop echoed along the 
great lakes of the North, and struck terror to the hearts of their 
dusky enemies on the banks of the Ohio, the Tennessee, and the 
Roanoke. They dominated numerous subjugated tribes, some 
of whom they denationalized and deprived of tribal relations, 
and others they practically extirpated. They were alternately 
courted by the French, the Dutch, and the English, who recog- 
nized and feared their prowess and power. The pale faces, 
however, introduced among them two potent agents of destruc- 
tion, ardent spirits and firearms, and at the period of the Gen- 
esee Settlement their decadence had already made marked prog- 
ress. But they were still numerous and powerful enough to be 
dangerous neighbors. Told, as they constantly were by British 
emissaries from Canada, that the King of England and not 
General Washington was their Great Father, that the war would 



THE SENECA INDIANS 5 

soon be resumed and rebellious subjects brought under subjection 
and punishment, that their only safety lay in loyalty and ad- 
hesion to the good King, and that duty and safety alike should 
prompt them to aid him in regaining dominion over his colonies, 
it is little wonder that the pioneer regarded his tawny neighbors 
with suspicion and dread, and felt that he took his life in his 
hand in making his home in a region over which they had so long 
held sway, and to which they sincerely believed they had a pre- 
scriptive and inalienable right. Fortunately for the colonists, 
the distinguished, eloquent, and sagacious sachem of the Senecas 
— Red Jacket — was a man of peace, and was not easily misled 
or cajoled by the mendacious tales of Canadian emissaries and 
their Indian confederates, amongst the latter of whom Joseph 
Brandt was active and conspicuous. To the firm but concilia- 
tory hand of Governor George Clinton ; to the wise, prudent, and 
patient counsels of the Indian Commissioners — Colonel Timothy 
Pickering and General Israel Chapin ; and to the thorough 
knowledge of the native character possessed by Captain Parrish 
and Horatio Jones, who acted as Indian agents and interpreters, 
as well as to the pacific disposition of the leading sachems of 
the Seneca Nation, must be ascribed the fact that the pioneers 
and their red brethren lived upon terms of amity, and that the 
scenes of Cherry Valley and Wyoming were not re-enacted in the 
Genesee Country a century ago. 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE. 

ONE hundred years ago that portion of the State of 
New York, lying west of Seneca Lake, known to east- 
ern people as the " Genesee Country," was an unbroken 
wilderness.* Smoke from the cabin of no white settler 
arose in that vast region, now the garden of the State. Red 
Jacket, Cornplanter, and Farmer's Brother reigned supreme. Let 
it not be understood that no white man had set foot there. More 
than two centuries ago — away back in the days of Champlain 
and Jacques Cartier — two French Jesuit fathers, Brebauf and 
Chauminot, crossed Lake Ontario and came upon the Niagara 
River near Lewiston. With the proselyting zeal so character- 
istic of their faith, they came as the bearers of good tidings to 
the Neuter Nation and surrounding tribes. The fathers found 
the stoics of the woods indifferent to their teachings, but though 
unable to convert the heathen of the western world they were 
not converted by them, as happened in later times to Lord Bishop 
Colenso in the eastern hemsiphere. Occasional Indian traders 
had camped for a time upon the Niagara and Genesee rivers, but 
they were itinerants, who came and went, and had no permanent 
abiding place. 

The expedition of De Nonville in 1687, consisting of French 
regular troops and allies from a number of tribes of western 
Indians, penetrated as far as the present village of Victor, On- 
tario County, where an indecisive battle was fought with the 
Senecas. The French retired to Niagara, establishing a fort 
there. Their Indian allies were greatly incensed at this move 
and at the barren results of an expedition from which so much had 
been expected. They had " come with banner, brand, and bow," 
hoping to assist in the extermination of their implacable enemies, 
the Iroquois, and spoke in contemptuous terms of the retrograde 
move of the French commander. 

The little army of Sullivan had destroyed the cornfields and 
burnt the villages of the hostile natives in this region during 

* Written in 1887. 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 7 

the war of the Revolution, but having accompHshed this, it re- 
turned to the white settlements from whence it came. 

The title to the lands of the Genesee Country had long been 
in dispute. Possessed of little knowledge of the geography of 
the newly discovered world, English, French, and Dutch kings 
had given conflicting grants to various parties, had granted the 
same lands to different colonists, had granted lands they never 
possessed, and the extent of which they little dreamed. James 
I., in 1620, gave to Massachusetts all the lands within certain 
north and south lines extending from the Atlantic to the Pacific 
oceans. He probably had as little notion of the number of miles 
between the two coasts as he had of the distance to the dog-star, 
perhaps not so much. New York claimed under both Dutch and 
English grants. The expulsion of the French from Canada 
had obliterated any title from that source, and as Massachusetts 
had the prior lien she got the Genesee Country. By a treaty 
ratified in 1786, New York State ceded to her the pre-emption 
right or fee to all the lands west of a certain line running north 
and south between the northern boundary of the State of Penn- 
sylvania and Lake Ontario. It was agreed that the starting 
point of this line should be on the Pennsylvania boundary, 
eighty-two miles west of the northeasterly comer of that State. 
Running thence due north to Lake Ontario, its course was very 
nearly through the middle of Seneca Lake. 

Soon after Massachusetts became possessed by deed of cession 
from New York of the pre-emption right to these lands, certain 
adventurous spirits, who had made a little money by assisting 
the Colonies during the Revolutionary struggle as commissaries 
and quartermasters, began negotiations for their purchase of 
this region. In saying this there is no thought of casting the 
slightest shadow upon the fair fame of the men who nobly risked 
their means in order that the continental army might be kept in 
the field. They staked not their money only, but their lives ; and 
at best their profits were in continental currency, or the scrip of 
the different Colonies whose troops they helped to feed and clothe. 
That we succeeded in the struggle inaugurated at Lexington 
and Concord was largely due to the patriotic merchant and 
banker of Philadelphia, Robert Morris, and to his coadjutors, 
amongst whom may be mentioned Oliver Phelps, Jeremiah Wads- 
worth, and John B. Church. But for the cheering words and 
more cheering assistance of Mr. Morris the army of Washington 



8 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

could not have been moved south to undertake the seige of York- 
town. His money and credit furnished shoes, clothing, and 
subsistence — the indomitable will was never lacking — and the 
patriot army moved on to the final victory of the war. 

Amongst those who early foresaw the inducements which the 
Genesee Country held out to enterprise was Oliver Phelps. Mr. 
Phelps was a native of Windsor, Connecticut, but had removed 
to Massachusetts about the time that resistance to king and 
parliament began in that colony. With nothing to recommend 
him but ardent patriotism and uncommon energy of character, 
he was — though but a youth — enrolled as a member of the 
famous Committee of Safety, and was among the men of New 
England who assembled at Lexington. When the troops of his 
native State were organized and sent into the field, he accepted 
an appointment in tlie commissary department, the duties of 
which he continued to discharge until the close of the war. 
He then became a resident of Suffield, Mass., and held in suc- 
cession the offices of member of assembly, senator, and member of 
the governor's council. Business relations brought Mr. Phelps 
and Mr. Morris often together, and the latter confirmed the 
former in the favorable opinion he had formed of the fertility 
and value of the lands in Western New York. Major Adam 
Hoops, of Philadelphia, who had been the aid of Gen. Sullivan in 
his expedition to that region, was an acquaintance of Mr. Morris 
and had given that gentleman a glowing account of its beauty and 
adaptability to every purpose of agricultural and manufacturing 
enterprise. It needed but these confirmatory opinions to induce 
Mr. Phelps to become interested in the purchase from Massachu- 
setts of its pre-emption title or fee of these lands. Applying to 
the Legislature for that purpose, on behalf of himself and several 
of his friends in Berkshire, he found that they had been antici- 
pated by Nathaniel Gorham, a merchant of Boston, residing in 
Charlestown. To prevent a conflict of interests, Mr. Phelps 
had a conference with Mr. Gorham, at which they agreed that 
the latter should join the former and his associates, and that the 
proposal of purchase by Mr. Gorham should be considered as 
made for their common interest. Nothing, however, was 
accomplished at the session of 1787. 

Before the Legislature convened in 1788 a new syndicate had 
been formed, which included all who desired to become interested, 
of which Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were constituted the repre- 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 9 

sentatives. They made proposals for all the lands embraced 
in the cession to Massachusetts, which were accepted; the stipu- 
lated consideration being £300,000 Massachusetts currency, or 
£290,000 of said currency and £2,000 in specie. It will be seen 
that the paper was worth in coin about twenty per cent, of its 
face value. The public obligations of the State, then much de- 
pressed, were also made receivable at par in payment. As there 
were more than 6,000,000 acres conveyed, the purchase price 
was about five cents per acre. Imagine the corner lots of Roch- 
ester and Buffalo being sold at such a figure, and that within 
the memory of a few people still living ! 

Mr. Phelps knew very well that it would be impossible to induce 
emigration to the new country if the Indians were hostile, so his 
next step was to placate them, and by purchase and treaty to 
extinguish their title. He accordingly met them in July, 1788, 
at a council fire which they had lighted at Buffalo Creek. A 
full delegation of Seneca chiefs was present, but they had come 
determined on making the Genesee River the western boundary 
of their cession, and stoutly resisted any attempt to secure the 
whole of their hunting grounds. They, however, generously 
granted to Mr. Phelps a mill lot west of the river, twelve miles 
by twenty-four in extent. One hundred acres of this tract 
were given to Ebenezer Allen upon condition that he would erect 
a grist and sawmill thereon. It is said that the red man, when 
he saw the mills, was rather astonished that they should require 
so large a lot. The best business portion of the city of Roch- 
ester stands on the hundred acres given to Allen. The whole 
Indian cession constituted what is known as the Phelps and Gor- 
ham purchase, and was bounded as follows : " Beginning on 
the northern line of Pennsylvania due south of the point of land 
made by the confluence of the Genesee River and Canaseraga 
Creek ; thence north on said line to the said point or confluence ; 
thence northwardly along the waters of the Genesee River to 
a point two miles north of Canawagus Village; thence running 
due west twelve miles ; thence running northwardly so as to be 
twelve miles distant from the western boundary of said river to 
the shores of Lake Ontario." It will be seen that these bounds 
include the celebrated " mill lot." The eastern boundary of the 
purchase was the pre-emption line before described.* The con- 

* The territory in this tract now comprises the counties of Ontario, Steuben, 
Yates, and Livingston; a part of Wayne, most of Monroe, a small part of 
Genesee, and about one half of Allegany. 



10 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

sideration paid to the Indians was $5,000 in silver and an annu- 
ity of $500 forever. A dispute as to the cash payment subse- 
quently arose ; Red Jacket and Farmer's Brother claiming that it 
was to be ten instead of five thousand dollars. Butler, Brant, and 
Lee, as referees, and the Rev. Mr. Kirkland and others who were 
present at the treaty, sustained Mr. Phelps, and made depositions 
that the Indians were mistaken as to the amount of the purchase 
money. A new pecuniary difficulty was soon after encountered 
by the purchasers. They had stipulated to make payment in 
the public paper of Massachusetts, issued during the Revolution, 
which they expected to obtain at about fifty per cent, of its face 
value. The meeting of the Constitutional Convention in Phila- 
delphia in 1787, and the prospect of success in forming a federal 
union which would take over the debts of the States, had caused 
an advance in this paper to nearly par. Being unable to extin- 
guish the Indian title over the whole of their purchase, they 
petitioned the Legislature to be released from that portion of 
it which the Indians refused to cede. Their petition was 
granted ; the more readily, perhaps, as a purchaser for the re- 
maining lands came forward in the person of Mr. Robert Morris. 

Being now ready to give title, Messrs. Phelps and Gorham 
and their associates bent their energies toward promoting set- 
tlement. Pamphlets and handbills descriptive of their lands 
were scattered throughout the older settled States, and offers to 
exchange them for improved property at the East were attract- 
ively presented. A house and lot in an eastern village would be 
taken on even terms for hundreds of acres in the new region, en- 
abling men of narrow means and growing families, but possessed 
of energy and enterprise, to provide homes in the future for 
themselves and their descendants. Who was the first white set- 
tler, who sowed the first wheat, who erected the first frame house, 
or the first grist mill, are moot questions. There is a conflict 
of statement on these points, a correct settlement of which would 
be of little value could it be reached. 

The early settlers came largely from New England. Better 
material could nowhere have been found. General Micah Brooks 
thus speaks of them : " I saw the scattered pioneers in their 
lonely cabins, cheered by the hope and promise of a generous 
reward for the privations they then suffered. I found in most 
localities that three-fourths of the heads of families had been sol- 
diers of the Revolution. These pioneers inherited the principles 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE U 

and firmness of their fathers. They subdued the forest, built 
houses and temples for worship, and were well skilled in all the 
practical duties of life. In seven or eight years from the first 
entrance of a settler, a number of towns in Ontario County were 
furnished with well-chosen public libraries." 

It required much energy and force of character to undertake 
the journey to the Genesee Country a hundred years ago. West 
of Fort Stanwix there was only an Indian trail. Blazed trees, the 
stars of heaven, and the courses of the rivers and creeks guided 
the settlers to their new homes. On sleds in winter, and in bat- 
eaux and canoes in summer ; on foot and on horseback, at all sea- 
sons, the toilsome journey was made. Shelter at night was 
found under tents, if the emigrants were fortunate enough to be 
provided with them ; if not, their boats and carts and the trees 
of the forest were their only protection. There was not a human 
habitation, except an occasional wigwam, between Fort Stanwix 
and Kanandasaga, now the handsome and flourishing town of 
Geneva. It may here be stated that the Genesee Country was 
settled before the central part of the State, and that Ontario was 
the first county west of IMontgomery a hundred years ago. 
It was also, until 1796, the only county in the State west of 
Seneca Lake.* Conflict of title prevented settlement on the 
" Military Tract " until about the beginning of the century. This 
tract included the present counties of Onondaga, Cayuga, 
Seneca, Cortland, and Tompkins. 

A mere sketch of the journey from the East of two pioneers 
will suffice to show the difficulties of the way, and may be taken as 
the common experience of all emigrants previous to the year 1800. 
William and James Wadsworth were natives of Durham, Connec- 
ticut; the sons of John N. Wadsworth, whose possessions made 
him what Avas called in those days " well to do." James was 
graduated from Yale College in 1787, and passed the two suc- 
ceeding winters in Montreal, teaching school. While yet undeter- 
mined as to his career, he paid a visit to his kinsman. Colonel Jere- 
miah Wadsworth, of Hartford, for the purpose of seeking advice 
of the older man as to his pursuits in life. Colonel Wadsworth, 
as has been stated, was active in aiding with his means to keep the 
army of Washington in the field, and, in connection with John B. 

* Counties were formed from Ontario as follows : Steuben, 1796 ; Genesee, 
1802; Allegany, 1806; Niagara, 1808; Chautauqua, 1808; Cattaraugus, 1808; 
Monroe, 1821; Erie, 1821; Livingston, 1821; Wayne, 1823; Yates, 1823; 
Orleans, 1824; Wyoming, 1841; Schuyler, 1854. 



13 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Church, had charge of the subsistence of the French fleet under 
Rochambeau. He had early made the acquamtance of Washing- 
ton, who paid frequent visits to his hospitable mansion to consult 
with its owner and other prominent men of the Revolution as to 
the means of carrying on the war. Mrs. Sigoumey thus de- 
scribes these meetings : 

" Round thy plenteous board have met, 

Rochambeau and La Fayette, 

With Columbia's mightier son. 

Great and glorious Washington ; 

Here, with kindred minds, they plann'd 

Rescue for an infant land." 
Having been intimately associated with Robert Morris and 
Oliver Phelps in business and financial measures connected with 
the prosecution of the war, and being possessed of ample means, 
it was natural that Colonel Wadsworth should become interested 
with those gentlemen in the land speculations that followed the 
establishment of peace and independence. It is probable that he 
was an original member of the syndicate acting through Messrs. 
Phelps and Gorham — it is certain that he became a very large 
owner of lands on the Genesee River previous to 1790. The result 
of Mr. James Wadsworth's visit to Hartford was a proposal on 
the part of his kinsman to sell to him on advantageous terms a 
portion of his tract at Big Tree (Geneseo), and the offer of an 
agency that would embrace the care and sale of his remaining 
lands. James was then but twenty-two years old, and pioneer 
life had probably never been included in any horoscope of the 
future he had cast for himself. His brother William was six 
years his senior. He was a man of splendid physique, of bound- 
less energy and force of character, and was every way fitted to 
encounter and overcome the perils and hardships of frontier life. 
In later years, his superb courage was shown upon the battle- 
field of Queenston, where he dared every danger in seconding the 
operations of General Scott ; repeatedly interposing to shield the 
person of the general, whose tall form attracted unwelcome atten- 
tion from the enemy's marksmen. Upon consultation, the 
brothers jointly accepted the proposition made them, and in the 
spring of 1790 began preparations for their migration to the 
then far-off wilderness. James started by way of the 
Sound and the Hudson, and continued up the Mohawk and the 
Oswego and Clyde rivers to the head of navigation on Canan- 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 13 

daigua outlet. William, the practical working partner, started 
across country with an ox team and cart, two or three hired 
men, and a colored woman, a favorite servant of the family. 
Before reaching Utica he had added a small stock of cattle 
bought along the Mohawk, thus early giving evidence of taste 
for a pursuit which continues to the present time to be a favorite 
one with the family — the breeding and rearing of cattle. His 
progress was slow. Logs had to be cut and moved out of his 
track, and small streams and sloughs had to be rudely spanned 
and causewayed. There was no ferry at Cayuga Lake, but 
Indian canoes were lashed together, a deck was made of poles, 
and the party succeeded in crossing. The average progress 
between Fort Stanwix and Canandaigua was about twelve miles 
per day. Arrived at Big Tree, the question of shelter was soon 
settled, Mr. William Wadsworth hewing logs by daylight and by 
torchlight with so much energy that in a few days a rude cabin 
lifted its humble roof-tree in the wilderness — the first abode of 
a family well and widely known from that day to this. 

If such was the pioneer experience of men of energy and cul- 
ture, with ample means at command, what must have been the 
toil and privation of the poorer class, which constituted the great 
majority of settlers in the new region ? It has been stated by 
one of these, that not one in ten of his fellow pioneers could have 
paid in cash for a hundred acres of land, even at twenty-five cents 
per acre. A new comer with five hundred dollars in money was 
a much rarer bird then than millionaires are to-day in the Gene- 
see Country. 

Fortunately, it did not take money to buy land, else settlement 
would have been very tardy. It could be readily obtained on 
long credit and easy terms, and there was little else for sale. 
Merchandise, even in the way of articles of utility and necessity, 
was as scarce as coin. One or two instances will illustrate this : 
As late as 1805, Peleg Redfield — father of Hon. Heman J. 
Redfield, and of Lewis Redfield, the pioneer printer of Syracuse 
— wishing to erect a frame dwelling on his farm near Clifton 
Springs, put fifty bushels of wheat on an ox sled and drove with 
it to Utica for the purpose of exchanging it for builders' hard- 
ware. He sold his wheat for $1.68 per bushel, and bought 
window glass, putty, nails, and other material, of a merchant by 
the name of Watts Sherman. The bill was made out and re- 
ceipted by Henry B. Gibson, who was a clerk for Mr. Sherman. 



14 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

It is hardly necessary to state that Watts Sherman, Esq., of the 
banking firm of Duncan, Sherman & Co., was a son of the Utica 
merchant, and that Henry B. Gibson became the well-known 
railroad man and banker of Canandaigua. If articles of util- 
ity and necessity were thus difficult to get, luxuries were still 
more difficult to obtain. In the recollections of Ebenezer Spear, 
of Palmyra, he says : " The wife of Webb Harwood, our pre- 
decessor in the wilderness, being in delicate health, her indulgent 
husband determined to procure some wine for her, as a tonic. 
At his request, I went to Canandaigua but found none, 
to Geneva and found none, to Utica and was equally 
unsuccessful, and continuing to Schenectady procured six 
quarts of Charles Kane. I was fourteen days making 
the journey on foot, carried my provisions in a knapsack, 
and slept under a roof but four out of thirteen nights." If 
the wine was as good as the act of procuring it was neighborly, 
it certainly " needed no bush." The frontiersman often carried 
his grist more than thirty miles to mill upon his back, and fre- 
quently walked the same distance to procure the use of a grind- 
stone. Bread to strengthen his arm, and a sharp axe to clear up 
a portion of " the continuous woods," were among the prime 
necessities of his existence. His table would have been scanty 
had not " Nature, a mother kind alike to all," come bounteously 
to his succor. Game abounded. The woods were full of it. 
The larger streams swarmed with salmon, and the smaller ones 
with trout. Next to his axe, his rod and gun were the most im- 
portant articles of a pioneer's outfit. Skill in their use was a 
part of his birth and training. If he did not have venison, 
partridge, or a mess of trout for supper, it was the fault of 
demand, not that of supply. His life was hard enough even 
with these now-a-day luxuries to furnish forth his meal. 

Let us look for a moment at the pioneer and his surroundings 
after he had arrived at the spot selected for his future home. 
The perils and privations of the journey are past and civilization 
is behind him. Alone, it may be, or perhaps assisted by ore 
or more stout-hearted, ruddy boys, he swings the axe which 
clears away the space, and furnishes the material for an humble 
dwelling. The logs, cut and notched, but not hewed, are at last 
ready to be laid one upon another until a height sufficient for the 
roof poles to begin is reached. A kind-hearted, helpful neighbor 
or two, coming perhaps for miles through the forest, assist at 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 15 

the raising. If it is too late for the bark to peel, a roof of pine 
and hemlock boughs has to suffice until another spring, when 
bark can be obtained. Such things as boards, shingles, nails, 
and window-glass are not within any possible reach. Openings 
are, of course, left for doors and windows, and blankets are 
hung at these until something more substantial can be substi- 
tuted. If a bank of clay is witliin reasonable distance it 
is mixed with water, and the crevices between the logs are plas- 
tered with it. A rude chimney built of sticks and laid up with 
similar mortar is, perhaps, constructed — if not, a hole in the 
roof at one end of the cabin permits the ingress of light and the 
egress of smoke and heat. Questions of ventilation and plumb- 
ing are not discussed, but in many of these humble structures 
men and women lived in health and vigor a score of years be- 
yond the scriptural allotment. The furniture, brought from the 
East, is primitive and scanty, and only in rare instances included 
such smart articles as a clock or bureau. But necessity, the 
grandmother of genius, and mother of invention (Pope and Gold- 
smith both tell us that invention is the parent of genius), im- 
provised a mechanic out of a rude farmer, who, without tools ex- 
cept an axe and a jackknife, soon fills the house with shelves, 
bunks, benches, tables, brooms, and other useful, though not 
ornamental, articles of furniture. This sort of work was per- 
formed at night or on rainy days. From early dawn to twilight 
the axe of the pioneer rang through the surrounding forest, 
until a space had been cleared upon which to make a vegetable 
garden, plant com, and sow wheat. Black bass, trout, and 
salmon are very nice articles of food, and so are partridges, 
woodcock, venison, and squirrel, but man cannot live by these 
alone, any more than he can by bread ; but by a judicious blending 
of these edibles ought to, and in the case of many of the pioneers 
did, suffice for daily food until beef, mutton, pork, chickens, 
eggs, and the more ordinary vegetables could be added to the 
daily fare. Wheat and corn, when obtained, were pounded in a 
stump mill, and, unsifted and unbolted, were made into homely 
loaves by the pioneer mother. The stump mill was made by 
cutting down a maple, hickory, or other hardwood tree, and hol- 
lowing out the top of the stump until it would contain a small 
quantity of grain, which was pounded with a stone until it was 
sufficiently soft to be made into cakes or loaves. But having 
always the same thing would make appetite revolt at Big- 



16 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

non, Voisin, or Delmonico's; and so it is small wonder that the 
pioneer has been, as before stated, known to carry his grist 
upon his back thirty miles to mill in order to get bolted flour. 
While land was cheap and abundant, labor was scarce and dear. 
For one day's work a laboring man could buy two acres of as 
good land as ever the sun shone upon. Fifty cents per acre 
was the current price of the soil, but to clear that acre, log and 
burn it, and fit it for the plow, from fifteen to twenty dollars 
was the going rate. And when the descendant of the pioneer 
asks why his great-grandfather did not buy more land at the 
extremely low figures asked for it, the cost of fitting it for pro- 
duction will be a sufficient answer. 

Food and shelter being provided, the next prime necessity of 
the early settler was clothing. Flax could be raised in abun- 
dance, but it was almost impossible to keep sheep, on account of 
those howling marauders, the wolves. So ravenous were they 
that they would enter the settler's dwelling in the day time and 
seize any fresh meat within their reach. A loaded rifle was 
usually kept in readiness for their reception. The pioneer 
mother was the Sartor Resartus of her time. By shifting and 
turning, by patch upon patch, she managed to make the stock 
of clothing brought in by her family last them until further sup- 
plies could be obtained from the East, or sufficient wool could be 
raised to meet the home demand. Let us glance for a moment at 
some of the duties performed by the good woman at the head of 
the pioneer's home. She did all the labors indoors, and was 
often the gardener, as well as cook, washer, ironer, and baker. 
She carded, spun, wove, dyed, cut, and made the entire clothing 
of her family, both male and female. She was tailoress, mil- 
liner, dressmaker, chambermaid, and waitress. Her woolens and 
linens for bedding and the table were made by her own hand. 
She pickled, preserved, and dried the fruits and vegetables of 
the season for the family table. And, in addition to all this, 
she bore to her husband a numerous household of vigorous, 
healthful children, whom she reared in honor and obedience with- 
out assistance, until the elders had attained a sufficient age to 
share in the care of their younger brothers and sisters. This 
seems to the present generation to have been a hard life, and so it 
was, but many of the pioneer mothers lived to receive the love 
and homage of their great-great-grandchildren. 

" Who can find a virtuous woman ! for her price is far above 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 17 

rubies. She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with 
her hands. She riseth while it is yet night, and giveth meat to 
her household, and a portion to her maidens. Her children 
arise up and call her blessed, her husband also, and he praiseth 
her. Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest 
them all." The wise man seems to have had the pioneer mothers 
in his mind when he wrote his inspired description. From homes 
presided over by such mothers men went forth to attain dis- 
tinction in every line of human endeavor. The Genesee Country 
furnished to the Government six of its cabinet officers — four of 
whom were residents of Canandaigua — and a President in the 
person of the Hon. Millard Fillmore. It furnished to the bench 
and bar the names of Geo. P. Barker, James Mullett, Henry 
Wells, Vincent Matthews, Joim Young, George Hosmer, Wm. 
M. Hawley, Jno. C. Spencer, Herman J. Redfield, Evert Van- 
buren, Dudley JMarvin, Albert H. Tracy, Daniel Conger, Samuel 
Fitzhugh, ]\Iark H. Sibley, Alvah Worden, Jared Wilson, Solo- 
mon K. Haven, Wm. G. Angel, Martin Grover, Washington 
Hunt, and Charles James Folger. A much longer list of 
representatives of the other learaed professions might be named, 
and then the half would not be told. 

Messrs. Phelps and Gorham and their associates dealt in 
principalities larger than half those in the old world, upon the 
business principle of " a nimble sixpence." They had hardly 
completed the survey of their domain into townships and ranges, 
when they sold it to Mr. Robert Morris. A considerable part of 
it had already found owners, and this, in addition to reservations 
made, constituted more than one-half of the original tract. The 
amount conveyed to Mr. Morris was about one million, two 
hundred thousand acres. The price paid was thirty thousand 
pounds. New York currency. The associates had thus cleared 
a handsome sum in cash, and more than a million acres of land 
on their purchase from Massachusetts — a fair profit on a busi- 
ness transaction in those days. When the pre-emption line as 
originally run was corrected by transit instruments, the land 
bought by Mr. Morris overran about one hundred and twenty 
thousand acres ; but as the deed read " more or less," no ac- 
count was taken of this trifle, which is worth to-day, at the 
moderate price of fifty dollars per acre, nearly six millions of 
dollars. 

The conveyance to Mr. Morris had hardly been completed 



18 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

when he placed his lands on sale in London through William 
Temple Franklin, a kinsman of Dr. Benjamin Franklin, offer- 
ing them at a handsome advance. They were quickly sold for 
seventy-five thousand pounds sterling to the " London Associ- 
ates," who, so far as is laiown, comprised but three gentlemen, 
Sir William Pulteney, William Hornby, and Patrick Colquhoun. 
It has been thought that Sir William Pitt, who was intimate with 
these gentlemen and encouraged their enterprise, had an interest 
with them, but there is no evidence upon which to base the sur- 
mise. The associates were men of distinction and ability. 

The original Pulteney was a statesman and plutocrat of the 
reigns of George I. and George IL, who in the early part of his 
career was a member of Sir Robert Walpole's government, and one 
of that minister's most powerful coadjutors, but having quar- 
reled with his chief he became as strenuous in opposition as he 
had been in support. Macaulay says : " Walpole might have 
averted the tremendous conflict in which he passed the latter 
years of his administration, and in which he was at length van- 
quished. The opposition which overthrew him was an opposi- 
tion created by his own policy, by his own insatiable love of 
power. 

" In the very act of forming his ministry he turned one of 
the ablest and most attached of his supporters into a deadly 
enemy. Pulteney had strong public and private claims to a high 
situation in the new arrangement. His fortune was immense. 
His private character was respectable. He had acquired official 
experience in an important post, and was a distinguished 
speaker. He had been — through all changes of fortune — 
a consistent Whig. When his party was split into two sections, 
Pulteney had resigned a valuable place and had followed the 
fortunes of Walpole. Yet when Walpole returned to power 
Pulteney was not invited to take office. 

" An angry discussion took place between the friends. The 
minister offered a peerage. It was impossible for Pulteney not 
to discern the motive of such an offer. He indignantly refused 
to accept it. For some time he continued to brood over his 
wrongs and to watch for an opportunity of revenge. As soon 
as a favorable conjuncture arrived he joined the minority, and 
became the greatest leader of Opposition that the House of 
Commons had ever seen." * 



* Review of Thackeray's Life of Chatham. 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 19 

In another Review,* Macaulay tells us what Akenside ex- 
pected from the fall of the tyrant Walpole and the elevation of 
Pulteney : 

" See private life by wisest arts reclaimed, 
See ardent youth to noblest manners f ram'd." 

" It was to be Pulteney's business to abolish faro and mas- 
querades, to stint the young Duke of Marlborough to a bottle 
of brandy a day ; and to prevail on Lady Vane to be content with 
three lovers at a time," Researches in English history do not 
enable us to say whether Pulteney succeeded in these laudable 
undertakings or not. The great rivals were at length " kicked 
up-stairs into obscurity ; " Walpole as the Earl of Orford and 
Pulteney as the Earl of Bath. When they met in the upper 
house Walpole extended his hand to his old opponent, saying: 
" Here we are, my lord ; the two most insignificant fellows in 
England." ** 

The Earl of Bath left no heirs of his body, and his fortune 
succeeded to his first cousin, Frances, only daughter of Daniel 
Pulteney, who became the wife of Sir William Johnstone, who 
thus acquired the great Pulteney property. With her estates 
he took her name, becoming known as Sir William Pulteney. He 
died in 1805, one of the richest subjects in the British Empire, 
leaving his immense fortune, including his American property, 
to his only child and heiress, Henrietta Laura Pulteney, who was 
created Countess of Bath. The town of Bath in Steuben 
County was named for her. A town in Monroe County bears 
her first name, Henrietta. 

Lady Bath died in 1808, leaving no children and no will of 
real estate. Her lands in America descended to her cousin and 
heir-at-law, Sir John Lowther Johnstone. Dying in 1811, the 
latter left his American estate to trustees for the benefit of his 
eldest son and heir, George Frederick Johnstone, who was bom 
in 1810, married in 1840, and died in May, 1841, leaving his 
widow enciente. She gave birth to twin sons, Frederick and 
George Kemper Johnstone. Coming into the world a few min- 
utes before his younger brother, the title and estates devolved 
upon Sir Frederick. He is the well-known sporting baronet, 
whose colt, Friars Balsam, was first favorite for the Two Thou- 



* Walpole's letters to Horace Mann. 

** Chesterfield says that Pulteney "shrunk into insignificancy and an 
earldom." 



20 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

sand Guineas and Derby in 1888, and whose defeat and 
the cause which led to it are among the turf sensations of that 
period. Upon examination, after being beaten for the Guineas, 
it was found that the horse's jaw was ulcerated, the result of a 
fracture. No explanation of this remarkable state of affairs 
could be given by anyone connected with the stable. It is sup- 
posed that Sir Frederick won " a pot of money " over Hermit's 
Derby, when the Marquis of Hastings was ruined. He was 
the only outsider who had the tip from Mr. Chaplin and Captain 
Machell. 

William Hornby had been Governor of Bombay in the days 
of Warren Hastings, and had returned to London with the for- 
tune of a nabob. Patrick Colquhoun was eminent as a states- 
man and philanthropist, had been Sheriff of Middlesex, and 
representative in Parliament of the aristocratic Westminster 
district.* A marble tablet erected to his memory by William 
Wood, Esq., recording a few of the principal events of his useful 
life, occupied for many years a niche in the front wall of the 
Congregational Church in Canandaigua; but iconoclastic hands 
have defaced it, and substituted another inscription on the same 
stone. A trustee of the church said of this, that there seemed to 
be no impropriety in removing it, as Mr. Colquhoun had never 
been a member of their organization, and, so far as he knew, had 
never been in Canandaigua or in any way interested in that section. 
Yet he was associated with all the Whig statesmen who advocated 
in Parliament the cause of the Colonies, and denounced the coer- 
cive measures of the king and his ministers. Burke, Fox, Pitt, 
and Sheridan were among his intimates. The trustee was not 
bound to know these facts, but being an old resident he might 
have known that Mr. Colquhoun was one of three men who at 
one time owned a million and a quarter acres of land surround- 
ing in every direction the church which for a time bore a tablet 
to his memory. The interest of each of the associates in the 
purchase was as follows : Sir William Pulteney nine-twelfths, 
William Hornby two-twelfths, and Patrick Colquhoun one- 
twelfth. 

The associates promptly appointed Charles Williamson their 
attorney and agent to promote settlement and sale, open roads, 
and make other improvements upon their property. To facili- 

* Mr. Colquhoun was the author of a work on statistics, and " The Police 
of the Metropolis." 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 21 

tate business Mr. Williamson become a naturalized citizen, and 
title was taken in his name. He was the friend and associate of his 
principals, a man whose intelligence and culture had been rounded 
by travel, and was possessed of signal ability and force of 
character. He was, however, dashing and impulsive, and was 
imbued with the singular error that commercial towns and villages 
can be built up in advance of a rural population to sustain them. 
But for the hundreds of thousands of farmers in the Northwest, 
there would be no Chicago; and New York would be an unim- 
portant town were it not the main tributary through which the 
production and consumption of more than sixty millions of 
people flow. 

Mr. Williamson also seemed to be unaware of the fact that 
a large city generally grows up near the mouth of some navigable 
stream draining a fertile country ; hence he ignored Rochester 
and its water power, and bent his energies toward establishing a 
commercial emporium on Sodus Bay. But though the location 
reminded him of the Bay of Naples, the town and the commerce 
failed to materialize. His travels, however, enabled him to give 
names to the handsome villages of Geneva and Lyons. The first 
was changed from Kanadasaga because Seneca Lake reminded 
him of Lake Leman, and the second took its name because the 
confluence of Ganargwa Creek and the Canandaigua outlet re- 
called to his mind the Rhone and the Saone. But leaving moods 
and sentiment aside, there is little doubt that his energy and dash, 
seconded by the abundant means of his London principals, for- 
warded settlement on their purchase by more than half a score of 
years. In 1800 his account stood as follows: Receipts, $147,- 
974.83; payments, $1,374,470.10. To make this look better 
there was on hand an immense tract of unsold land, mills, hotels, 
and other town property, and a very large amount outstanding 
against lands sold. Credit is to some extent due him for the 
enhanced value of the estate under his administration. His 
principals had bought it for about thirty-five cents per acre ; he 
left it when selling at from $1.50 to $4. 

Although Mr. Williamson was a citizen and a taxpayer, and 
twice represented Ontario County in the Legislature, he was never 
thoroughly Americanized, and returned to Scotland in 1803. 
He had early retained Aaron Burr as counsel, and during his 
attendance upon legislative duties in Albany, business and social 
relations made them close companions ; and in whatever project 



22 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Burr had at the South, WilHamson would probably have taken a 
conspicuous part had the scheme not been so promptly nipped in 
the bud. 

Mr. Williamson reconveyed the property to his principals as 
follows: To Wilham Hornby and Patrick Colquhoun by deed 
bearing date December 13, 1800, and to Sir William Pulteney 
by deed dated March 5, 1801. The London Associates also 
owned lands on the military tract, and in the counties of Albany, 
Montgomery, and Herkimer. There is no doubt that the ex- 
travagant management of Mr. Williamson greatly disappointed 
his principals, and there is the best authority for saying that 
Sir William Pulteney seriously contemplated abandoning his 
interests in the Genesee Country, but was dissuaded from doing 
so by Williamson's successor in the agency, Colonel Robert Troup. 
The estate was divided at this period, the affairs of Messrs. 
Hornby and Colquhoun passing into the hands of John John- 
stone, Esq., while Colonel Troup, as already stated, assumed the 
management of the Pulteney property. Colonel Troup's successor 
was Joseph Fellows, of Geneva. The clerks in the Geneva 
office were successively Thomas Goundry, George Goundry, 
William Van Wort, David H. Vance, Wm. Young, and Jno. 
Wride. Agents at Bath have been James Reese, Samuel L. 
Haight, Dugald Cameron, William McKay, and Benj. F. Young, 
the latter gentleman being in charge at the present time. 

Upon the death of Mr. Johnstone in 1806, Mr. John Greig 
succeeded to the agency of the Hornby and Colquhoun estate, 
a position which he held for more than half a century. Few men 
were better or more favorably known in Western New York 
than ]Mr. Greig. A native of Scotland, he came to Canandaigua 
in 1800, and was among the foremost of a conspicuous galaxy 
of names that made the handsome town famous during the first 
sixty years of its history. 

Mr. Greig was succeeded by his chief clerk, William Jeffrey. 
Upon the decease of the latter, the management of the estate 
passed into the hands of Walter Heard, long an associate clerk 
under Mr. Greig's agency. The affairs of the estate, so far 
as realty was concerned, were closed by Mr. Heard about fifteen 
years ago, but the heirs of Messrs. Hornby and Colquhoun still 
have investments here in personalty. As early as 1850, Mr. 
Greig began to invest a part of the surplus receipts of his prin- 
cipals in the railroads that now form the New York Central, 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 23 

and the estates of Messrs. Hornby and Colquhoun were consider- 
able holders of that stock when it was doubled by Commodore 
Vanderbilt. 

In 1791, soon after completing his sale to the London Associ- 
ates, Mr. Morris bought from Massachusetts her remaining 
lands in Western New York, which included all that portion of 
the State west of the Genesee River except the mill lot. This 
was the tract Messrs. Phelps and Gorham were released from 
taking in consequence of being unable to extinguish the native 
title, and contained more than 4,000,000 acres. Reserving 
700,000 acres lying along the westerly bank of the Genesee, 
he sold the remainder in 1792 or 1793 to Herman LeRoy, 
William Bayard, Gerrit Boon, John Linklaen, and Matthew 
Clarkson ; acting as agents for an association of Amsterdam 
merchants and bankers, known as the Holland Company. Pos- 
sibly a few New Yorkers are still living who remember the 
famous mercantile house of LeRoy, Bayard & McEvers. In his 
terms of sale Mr. Morris guaranteed the extinguishment of the 
native title. This was a thing easy to stipulate but hard to ac- 
complish, and it was not until 1797 that he succeeded in bring- 
ing the Indians to terms. In that year a council fire was lighted 
at Big Tree, which was attended by commissioners on the part 
of the United States, the State of Massachusetts, and the 
Holland Company. Thomas Morris and Charles Williamson 
represented Robert Morris. The then unfinished residence of 
William and James Wadsworth was used for the accommodation 
of those directly connected with the negotiations. The pro- 
ceedings were tedious, and at one time threatened to become abor- 
tive ; but, by much skill, patience, and diplomacy on the part of 
Mr. Thomas Morris, a successful conclusion was reached, and 
what is known as the Morris Treaty became an accomplished fact. 

The money consideration paid to the Indians was one hundred 
thousand dollars. President Adams directed that it should be 
invested in the stock of the United States Bank. This fund has 
not been traced beyond its original disposition, but it is likely 
that the red man's money went with the white man's, in the crash 
that caused the suspension of the bank. The Indians made 
numerous reservations of land, twelve in all, amounting to about 
three hundred and fifty square miles. The largest of these were 
at Buffalo Creek, Tonawanda Creek, Cattaraugus Creek, and 
Allegheny River. 



24 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

As soon as surveys were made, the lands of the Holland Com- 
pany were opened for settlement; but little progress was made 
previous to 1800. 

Real estate speculation has not been confined to any country or 
age. Its existence antedates Los Angeles and Kansas City. 
Probably at no time has it been conducted upon a more gigantic 
scale, so far as area is concerned, than during a number of years 
succeeding the close of the Revolutionary struggle. The in- 
evitable collapse came and carried with it Mr. Robert Morris. 
The half million acres which he had reserved along the banks of 
the Genesee, representing a part of his profit on the Massachu- 
setts purchase, and fondly looked upon as a princely domain for 
himself and his descendants, was parcelled out to preferred 
creditors, among whom was John B. Church. This gentleman 
was of English birth, but while yet a young man had emigrated 
to Boston, where he conducted for a number of years, and with 
great success, the business of an underwriter. Espousing with 
zeal the cause of the Colonies, he became engaged with Jeremiah 
Wadsworth in the commissary department, and before the close 
of the war had made the acquaintance of General Philip Schuyler 

— similarly engaged in supplying the northern division of the 
army — whose daughter he married. In 1785, Mr. Church 
removed with his family to London, and resided there and at a 
country seat near Windsor Castle until 1797, when he returned 
to New York. The physician of King George the Third at- 
tended his family, and imparted to Mr. Church in confidence 

— long before it became generally known — the fact of the 
mental aberration of that monarch, the development of which 
he did not hesitate to attribute to the loss of the American 
Colonies. 

During his residence abroad Mr. Church was returned to 
Parliament from Wendover, became a favorite of Pitt and Fox, 
and adhered to the latter gentleman when it was derisively said 
of him that " he and his party could drive to the House of Com- 
mons in a hackney coach." 

General Alexander Hamilton, the conspicuous statesman, pub- 
licist, and financier of the Revolutionary period, married a 
daughter of General Schuyler and was a brother-in-law of Mr. 
Church. Acting as that gentleman's agent during his resi- 
dence abroad, he loaned to Robert Morris $80,000, taking as 
security a mortgage on Morris Square, Philadelphia, but sub- 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 25 

sequently transferred the lien to 100,000 acres of land on the 
Morris Reserve, in what is now Allegany County. In conse- 
quence of Mr. Morris's pecuniary troubles, this tract was sold 
in 1800, by Roger Sprague, sheriff of Ontario County, and was 
bought in by Philip Church for his father. There were at the 
time but three white settlers in all that region. Careful train- 
ing, as we have seen in the case of James Wadsworth, seems 
specially to fit a man for becoming the patroon of new settle- 
ments. Judge Philip Church, as he afterward became, was 
educated in Paris and at Eton, and studied law with his uncle, 
Alexander Hamilton. With advantages and connections such 
as fall to the lot of few men, he threw them aside for the life of 
a pioneer and patroon on the tract of which his father had 
become owner. In 1803 he erected at Belvidere on the Genesee 
River a frame house which for years was the only one in that 
section. Here he resided during more than half a century. It is 
said that, being an athlete in his younger days, he selected the 
location for his residence by climbing tall trees on the hills over- 
looking the river and valley. Settlement was slow in his locality, 
and it was not until the boatman's horn on the Genesee Canal and 
the screech of the locomotive on the Erie Railway resounded in 
that portion of the southern tier that his splendid patrimony 
attracted the attention of purchasers.* 

Besides the hundred thousand acres foreclosed by J. B. 
Church, other creditors of Mr. Morris received allotments as 
follows : Sterritt & Harrison, of Philadelphia, 175,000 acres ; 
Willing & Francis, 37,000 acres ; the State of Connecticut and 
Sir William Pulteney, 100,000 acres, and LeRoy, Bayard & 
McEvers, 87,000 acres. It would exceed any reasonable limits 
to trace the subdivision and settlement of these tracts, and of the 
lands of the Holland Company. 

Not even a sketch can be given of the pioneers on the Phelps 
and Gorham purchase, but portraits of some of the more promi- 
nent of them adorn the walls of the Court House in Canan- 
daigua, and we may step in and look at their intelligent, 
resolute, honest faces. Here are Peter B. Porter and General 
Vincent INIatthews, who appeared for the defense in the first 
jury trial held west of Herkimer County. Nathaniel W. 
Howell, who appeared for the prosecution ; Augustus Porter, 
an early surveyor for Mr. Phelps and on the Holland Purchase ; 

* See Turner's History of the Phelps and Gorham purchase. 



26 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Moses Atwater, the first physician ; and General Chapin and 
Jasper Parrish, the first Indian agents. (Mrs. Barlow, Mrs. 
Meagher, and Mrs. Crawford, of New York, are granddaugh- 
ters of Captain Parrish.) There, too, are Nathaniel Rochester 
and Judge Fitzhugh, natives of Virginia and Maryland, and 
pioneers in the southern portion of Steuben and Livingston 
counties. These two, in connection with Charles Carroll, bought 
in 1802 the hundred-acre lot on which a portion of Rochester 
City stands, but made no move toward an improvement of 
that property until nearly ten years later. A member of Jef- 
ferson's cabinet is here, in the person of Gideon Granger. Here 
are the portraits of the gentlemen of whom some account has 
already been given — Oliver Phelps, Micah Brooks, William and 
James Wadsworth, Philip Church, and John Greig. And here 
is the foremost pioneer of them all, the famous sachem and orator 
of the Senecas — Red Jacket. He appeared for the defense 
in the first trial of a capital crime held in Ontario County, and 
saved the life of his dusky client. Mr. Greig, who as district 
attorney appeared for the prosecution, said of him, " I am but 
a reed compared to this mighty monarch of the forest." And 
here, too, are some of the later representatives of that aristo- 
cratic and brilliant society which made the little town famous 
at the bar, in the halls of legislation, and in the cabinet, during 
the first half of the century. They are Ambrose and John 
C. Spencer, Francis Granger, Mark Hopkins Sibley, Alvah 
Worden, Dudley Marvin, and Jared Wilson. And here, as law 
students, growing up amongst the giants of those days, are 
Stephen A. Douglas, Secretary Folger, and Senator Lapham. 
The American mind is eminently practical. Our people soon 
tire of details and ask for results. The Califomian wants to 
know " how the thing panned out,'' " and the Western man says 
" how did it materialize? " and the Eastern citizen inquires 
" whether the balance was on the right side of the ledger ? " 
Applied to operations in lands in the Genesee Country the answer 
to these questions may be summed up in a general statement 
that the results to individual speculators in these lands were, in 
the main, disastrous. Very few of this class made and kept any 
money. Of the settlers on the Phelps and Gorham purchase 
the Wadsworths are almost the sole exception to this statement. 
They still own thousands of acres, parceled out in improved 
and fertile farms, and are adding to, rather than diminishing, 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 27 

their holdings. Col. Church still has a fine estate in Allegany 
County, on the Morris Reserve. Aside from these, there are 
very few land owners anywhere in the Genesee region whose 
holdings amount to so much as a thousand acres. Small farms, 
occupied and tilled by the owners, are the rule, and tracts of more 
than five hundred acres of improved land, in one body and under 
one control, are the exception. This is as it should be. When 
the head of a family becomes a proprietor of the soil, and especi- 
ally when, as Pope says, he " breathes his native air, on his own 
ground," he has gone far toward laying on a firm basis the 
foundation of good citizenship. Probably nowhere in this 
country is there a more intelligent, independent, and thrifty 
body of men than the farmers of Western New York. 

Dumas says the philosophy of life is summed up in three 
words — " wait and hope." But very few Americans have the 
patience to wait or the faith that hopes on and ever. Sanguine, 
daring, and venturesome in the unfolding and early development 
of their schemes, they seldom have the courage to sit down and 
see them fructify. As agent and owner, James Wadsworth had 
as much to do with the settlement and growth of the region 
which he made his home as anyone connected with its history. 
Besides his own affairs and those of his kinsmen, he acted as agent 
for Phelps and Gorham, the Holland Company, Sir William 
Pulteney, Lady Bath, and others, and as early as 1796 had vis- 
ited Europe for the purpose of interesting capitalists abroad in 
the lands of the Genesee Country. After a long and active ac- 
quaintance with the subject, his experience is thus expressed in 
a letter to a friend, he says : " It is slow realizing from new 
lands. I will never advise another friend to invest in them. 
Men generally have not the requisite patience for speculating in 
them." 

Yet the increase in the value of the property in this section, 
in the last hundred years, suggests the tales of Aladdin. It was 
bought in 1788 for $300,000. Its assessed value in 1886 was 
$469,981,238 — its actual value, real and personal, to-day, is 
doubtless more than $600,000,000. It is often asserted that 
the advance in real estate is not equal to the accretion of money 
at compound interest. While this assertion may hold good if 
carried over a period of several hundred years, yet the original 
purchase price agreed to be paid by Phelps and Gorham to the 
State of Massachusetts for all the lands west of the pre-emption 



28 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

line would not, if compounded and doubled every ten years, be 
equal to one-half the value of the realty and personalty at the 
present time. 

The London Associates realized a fair return on their Ameri- 
can investment. With true British tenacity, they clung to their 
lands until the steadily-increasing tide of emigration and settle- 
ment made them valuable. A very small proportion of their 
sales were made for cash. Long credits were the almost uni- 
versal rule, but they were quite satisfied with the legal rate of 
interest on bond and mortgage, and it may be set down to their 
credit that settlers on their tract showing any disposition to 
clear and improve farms were never pushed either for the 
interest or principal of their indebtedness. 

It was the completion of the Erie Canal, however, that gave 
the great and lasting impetus to the Genesee region. Previous 
to that event, there was hardly any feasible outlet for produce. 
Mr. Williamson's scheme of a water route by way of Lake On- 
tario to Europe and New York came to naught, and Sodus Bay 
remains up to the present time a resort for the disciples of Isaak 
Walton in summer, and a bleak, boisterous, ice-locked place in 
winter. Navigation to Philadelphia and Baltimore by way of 
the creeks and rivers of the southern tier emptying into the 
Susquehanna was tedious, toilsome, and dangerous, and prac- 
ticable only during a few weeks of high water in the spring. 
" Clinton's Ditch " was the " open sesame " to the treasures of 
Western New York. It quadrupled the value of every acre 
of land on the Massachusetts pre-emption. If ever any man 
deserved a monument to perpetuate his name and memor}', Dewitt 
Clinton deser^^es one at the hands of the farmers of the Genesee 
region. Before the canal was finished there was, much of the 
time, absolutely no market for the farmer's crops and stock. 
Merchants often refused to take the finest quality of wheat in 
barter for store goods. There were many seasons when it could 
not be exchanged upon any terms for even tobacco and whiskey. 
The following items will show the expense of wagon haulage in 
early days and the prohibitory nature of that mode of trans- 
portation. It cost $18 to take a common wagon load from Geneva 
to Le Roy. The cost of hauling a load of goods from Albany to 
Gansons on the Holland Purchase was $120. Only when produce 
fetched a very high price, as it did in exceptional seasons, could it 
stand this mode of getting to market. A pioneer farmer says : 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 29 

" In 1808 I took wheat to Canandaigua ; there was no price and 
no sale for it there ; no exchanging it for store trade. I removed 
it to Geneva, at a cost of 12/^ cents per bushel, and paid a debt 
I owed there for a barrel of whiskey; the wheat netting 
me 12^ cents per bushel, or one gallon of whiskey 
for six bushels of wheat. The first cash market was at 
Charlotte; price 31 cents per bushel." In the same year Mr. 
Wadsworth writes to Colonel Troup : " It is a fact that farmers 
have been compelled to sell their wheat in some instances for 
eighteen pence per bushel, to pay taxes." In another letter he says : 
" The situation of the inhabitants in this part of the country 
has been really distressing; a farmer might have 1,000 bushels 
of wheat in his bam and yet not be able to buy a pound of tea." 
In still another letter, speaking of the scarcity of money, he 
says, " You would be surprised to know the rate that farmers 
with granaries full of wheat are paying for a little money to 
meet their taxes." There was, though, enough variation in the 
price of that product to suit the veriest Chicago or Cincinnati 
comerer of to-day. Only two years pre%'ious, in 1806, wheat 
sold at $2.50 per bushel, and at various later periods brought 
high prices — selling in the cold season of 1816 as high as $3. 
The canal, when finished, gave a steady and reliable market for 
products of every sort, and " cash for wheat " met the eye there- 
after on more than one signboard in every market town in the 
Genesee Country. 

Although settlement on the lands of the Holland Company was 
about ten years later than on the Phelps and Gorham purchase, 
it did not progress very rapidly, owing to the fact that they were 
farther from market than the region east of the Genesee River. 
The company offered in 1821 to assign and turn over to anyone 
desiring to assume its position at that time its property of 
every nature and description and all its receipts to date, upon 
reimbursement of its original investment with interest at the 
rate of four per cent, per annum, and one year later offered to 
some well-known capitahsts all its unsold lands at four shillings 
per acre. Neither of these offers was accepted. The company 
held the property until after the completion of the canal, and 
then realized a fair profit on its purchase. 

Robert Morris died in New Jersey in 1806. Although at one 
time undoubtedly the richest man in the country — his estate 
being estimated at seven or eight millions, and his note-of-hand 



30 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

passing current like bank issues — he left no property. During 
the last years of his life, himself and wife were supported by an 
annuity of $1,500, granted her for life by the Holland Company, 
in consideration of her releasing her right of dower in the lands 
of the Holland Purchase. 

Oliver Phelps died in Canandaigua, in 1809, a poor man. 
Hardly a rood was left to his family of the princely domain 
that he at one time might have possessed unincumbered. Like 
his associate, Mr. Morris, his early success in the Genesee Coun- 
try led to his downfall. Elated with his good fortune there, and 
elected to Congress, he became smitten with the mania for specu- 
lating in wild lands, which began about 1795-96, and made rash 
ventures in almost every part of the country. The American 
Land Company and the Georgia Land Company were among the 
schemes with which he was connected. He became a large bor- 
rower at home and abroad. Pay day came and with it came 
ruin. His tombstone in Canandaigua bears this mournful 
inscription : " Enterprise, Industry, and Temperance can- 
not always secure success, but the fruits of those virtues 
will be felt by society." 

A few words of local reminiscence will complete the sketch of 
the Phelps and Gorham purchase. The first sale made by them 
was of Township No. 11, Range 3, which then included both 
Farmington and Manchester. The latter town was set off in 
1822. Up to that date the whole Avas known as Farmington. The 
purchasers were Nathan Comstock, Abraham Lapham, Nathan 
Herendeen, Doctor Daniel Brown, Nathan Aldrich, and others. 
Those named became settlers on the purchase. Mr. Comstock, 
his two sons, and Robert Hathaway arrived in 1789, made a 
clearing, built a cabin, and sowed wheat. John Decker Robin- 
son and Nathaniel Sanborn were the first arrivals in the town of 
Phelps — coming in with Oliver Phelps in 1789. Mr. Sanborn 
had charge of a drove of cattle intended for beef to be distributed 
to the Indians, at the treaty which it was supposed would be held 
at Canandaigua. As soon as land sales commenced, Mr. Robin- 
son bought lot No. 14, Township 11, Range 1, located at what 
was then known as East Vienna. In payment he erected for 
Phelps and Gorham — partly of logs and partly framed — a 
building in Canandaigua which was used as a land office and 
residence by the pioneer land agent, Mr. Walker. Mr. Robin- 
son's son Harry was the first white male child bom in the town. 



PHELPS AND GORHAM PURCHASE 31 

Jonathan Oaks erected a large framed public house at Oaks 
Comers in 1794?. It was the second framed tavern house west of 
Geneva, and was regarded as a wonder in those days, and its 
enterprising owner was thought to be far in advance of the 
times. As early as 1816, the lessees of this stand were Joel and 
Levi Thayer, who aftenvards became residents of Buffalo. They 
established at Oaks — some little time before the enterprising 
projector of Jerome Park and Sheepshead Bay was born — 
the long celebrated race course which for many years attracted 
annual gatherings of turfmen from Long Island, New Jersey, 
and the South. It was for a number of years under the man- 
agement of Colonel Elias Cost, a native of Maryland, who settled 
at Oaks in 1800, and brought with him a taste for the sports 
of the section from which he emigrated. After the death of 
his first wife, who was a daughter of Captain Shekels, Colonel 
Cost married the widow of Thaddeus Oaks and was for fourteen 
years the landlord of the old Oaks stand. 

The first merchant in the town of Phelps was John R. Green, 
an Englishman, who opened a store at Oaks Corners. Leman 
Hotchkiss and David McNeil were the first merchants in the 
village of Phelps, then known as Vienna. Mr. McNeil was the 
first postmaster there, being appointed in 1804). He held the 
position until his death in 184)1. Thirty-seven years in one 
office furnishes to the powers that be, and that are to be, a good 
lesson in civil service reform, and a good text from which to 
write a homily on rotation in office. 

Captain Jacob Cost settled on what is now known as the Sani- 
tarium Farm, near CKfton Springs. The fine, never-failing 
stream of water running through it probably attracted him to 
this spot. There is little doubt that this farm has been greatly 
improved under its present management, and it furnishes an 
optical illustration of what drainage, fertilizing, and tillage, 
backed by ample resources, can accomplish. 

The following may be mentioned among the humors of local 
history : At the census of 1790 there were but two white inhabit- 
ants in the town of Phelps — John Decker Robinson and Pierce 
Granger — and they did not recognize each other. They had 
quarreled about some trivial matter, and did not speak as they 
passed by. The absurdity of the situation will be apparent the 
more it is reflected upon. In 1795, Mr. Charles Williamson, 
agent of the London Associates, learning that a body of Scotch 



32 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

colonists had arrived in New York, and were looking for lands 
upon which to settle, set out post haste to meet them and induce 
them to locate in the Genesee Country. He conducted a com- 
mittee of them to Geneva, and from that point they visited vari- 
ous portions of the tract under his management. They liked 
the lands near the Sulphur Springs, now Clifton. Mr. William- 
son, who was himself a Scotchman, commended their choice, and 
remarked in a joking way that the water of the springs would be 
handy as an antidote for the national disease. Strange to say — 
and in direct contradiction to Sidney Smith and his surgical 
operation, and to the story of the steam drill — Sandy saw the 
joke, and the negotiations ended then and there. The humor 
of tliis anecdote is apparent in more ways than one. 



HOLLAND PURCHASE. 

IF HALF the interesting and important facts were set forth 
concerning the transaction by which Mr. Robert Morris 
conveyed to a number of capitahsts of the city of Amster- 
dam a tract of land in Western New York considerably 
greater in extent than the Kingdom of Holland,* they would fill 
a number of volumes larger than this. There is ample material 
for biography. More than a score of men eminent in commerce, 
finance, law, and statesmanship had a direct personal and pecuni- 
ary interest in this famous negotiation, from its inception in 
1791 to its close in IS-IS. Their names will be mentioned from 
time to time as this story progresses, and merely mentioned, in 
connection with the part they took in the early history and set- 
tlement of the Genesee Country. Still more abundant materials 
exist for narrative that would be most interesting to local 
readers. But if these things were within my capacity, which I 
gravely doubt, they are, not within the scope and plan of an 
undertaking the object of which is to set forth only such of the 
prominent facts connected with the history of the Holland Pur- 
chase as may enable the reader to form a general idea of the 
origin, rise, progress, and conclusion of the transaction. During 
his confinement for debt under the barbarous laws inherited by 
us from the mother country, which have been abrogated by a 
later and wiser generation, Mr. Morris wrote a statement of his 
business affairs which was published in pamphlet form, a copy 
of which I have been permitted to see by the courtesy of Richard 
Church, Esquire, of Belvidere, Allegany County. I shall there- 
fore let Mr. Morris tell in his own words the story of his purchase 
from the State of Massachusetts of all the lands in the State of 
New York lying west of the Genesee River — except the Mill 
Lot, given to Messrs. Phelps and Gorham by the Seneca Indians 
— and a few small reservations on the lakes and Niagara River 

* The Holland Purchase contained over 5,600 square miles. North and 
South Holland combined contain only 2,212, and the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands, including the Grand Duchy of Luxemburg, only 13,584 square 
miles. 

33 



34 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

upon which forts and other Government property had been 
erected, and his subsequent sale of the greater portion of his 
purchase to the Hollanders. 

He says : " I shall begin with the lands purchased in the 
Genesee Country, acknowledging that if I had contented myself 
with those purchases, and employed my time and attention in dis- 
posing of the lands to the best advantage, I have every reason 
to believe that at this day I should have been the wealthiest 
citizen of the United States. That things have gone otherwise 
I lament, more on account of others than on my own account, for 
God has blessed me with a disposition of mind that enables me 
to submit with patient resignation to His dispensations as they 
regard myself. 

" In the year 1790, I purchased of Messrs. Phelps and Gor- 
ham a tract of country in the Genesee district warranted to con- 
tain not less than one million of acres, and sold the whole of that 
purchase in the year 1791 in England to handsome profit, but 
which was reduced by discounts and other circumstances so as to 
close with less than I had at first expected. 

" This purchase gave me an insight into the situation and 
circumstances of the remaining lands in that country, the right 
of pre-emptive purchase from the Indians being in the State 
of Massachusetts. I took measures, and in the year 1791 
bought a tract of the said State, for which I paid at different 
periods £100,000 lawful money, equal to £125,000 Pennsylvania 
currency, with heavy interest, besides other sums paid for various 
objects in connection therewith. In this purchase, Mr. Samuel 
Ogden, who assisted in making it, had an interest of 300,000 
acres, his brother-in-law, G. Morris, Esq. — who was expected 
to assist in making sales in Europe — had an interest of 250,000 
acres ; Richard Soderstrom, 100,000 acres ; and William Con- 
stable, 50,000 acres. The whole purchase was estimated at four 
millions of acres, and upon actual survey yielded rather more. 

" This land was by Imaginary meridian lines divided into 
five tracts or parcels, of which No. 1 began at that point on the 
northern boundary line of Pennsylvania where Phelps and 
Gorham's western boundary intersected the same, and from 
thence running westerly twelve miles to a point from which the 
first meridian running Into Lake Ontario forms the western 
boundary of the said Tract No. 1, Lake Ontario the northern 
boundary, Phelps and Gorham's west line and the Genesee River 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 35 

the eastern boundary, and the Pennsylvania line the southern 
boundary. This tract so bounded was then computed to con- 
tain 500,000 acres, but on actual survey was found to contain 
much more. 

" No. 2 commenced at the point on the Pennsylvania line where 
No. 1 ended, running thence sixteen miles west, and from that 
point a northern meridian line to Lake Ontario formed the west- 
em boundary ; Lake Ontario formed the northern boundary, the 
west meridian line of Tract No. 1 the eastern boundary, and the 
Pennsylvania line the southern boundary, and was estimated to 
contain 800,000 acres. 

" No. 3 commenced where No. 2 ended, running sixteen miles 
west, then a meridian, etc., as above. 

" No. 4s commenced where No. 3 ended, running sixteen miles 
west, then a meridian, etc., as before. 

" No. 5 commenced where No. 4 ended, and runs west on the 
Pennsylvania line to the point on the said line where the east 
boundary of the land called the Pennsylvania Triangle strikes 
the same, and is bounded on the west by the east line of the said 
triangle, by Lake Erie, and by the land called the New York 
Reservation on the east side of Niagara River, on the north 
by Lake Ontario, on the east by the west line of No. 4>, and on 
the south by the Pennsylvania line. 

" I have thought this account of these divisions necessary to 
a true understanding of the sales and grants hereafter men- 
tioned — especially of Tract No. 1 , to an account of which I now 
proceed : 

" In 1791 I borrowed of Colonel W. S. Smith, of New York, 
who was then agent to Mr. Pulteney and Governor Hornby, 
$100,000 and mortgaged the tract No. 1 to secure the repay- 
ment of that sum in six per cent, stock and interest. 

" 100,000 acres, part of tract No. 1, was sold to Messrs. 
Watson, Cragie & Greenleaf in 1792. 

" 86,973 acres, part of same tract, was sold to LeRoy & 
Bayard in January, 1793. 

" 33,750 acres, part of same, was sold to Andrew Cragie in 
1795. 

" 50,000 acres, part of same, was sold to Samuel Ogden in 
1796. 

" 50,000 acres, part of same, was conveyed in trust to Captain 
Charles Williamson, who, as attorney for Mr. Pulteney, dis- 



36 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

charged the mortgage on tract No. 1 and accepted this 50,000 
acres as security for half the debt of $100,000, the other half 
having been paid. 

" 100,000 acres, part of said tract No. 1, was mortgaged to 
Alexander Hamilton for the use of John B. Church, to secure 
the payment of $81,679.44 with interest, which I owed him 
(Church). This mortgage is dated May 31, 1796. 

" 175,000 acres, part of said tract No. 1, was conveyed to 
Samuel Sterett to secure the payment of the balance I owed to 
him and to Sterett & Harrison, estimated by their accounts at 
$400,136.92, but which upon examination of accounts I have re- 
duced to $302,919.30, which I believe is correct, or nearly so. 
This conveyance is dated May 4, 1797. 

" 5,120 acres, part of tract No. 1, being an undivided half 
of a tract called Mount Morris, given by me to my son Thomas 
Morris from motives of affection, and in consideration of services 
he had rendered, and then expected to render, and which he hath 
since faithfully rendered to me in that country — given by letter 
dated 16th February, 1793, and confirmed by deed dated 27th 
November, same year. 

" 5,120 acres, the other undivided half of Mount Morris, 
conveyed to Thomas Fitzsimons by deed dated 25th January, 
1798, in part security of the debt I owe him. 

" 9,600 acres granted to Smith & Jones, Indian interpreters, 
upon terms expressed in my contract with them dated 28th 
April, 1792. 

" 40,000 acres mortgaged to the Holland Company to secure 
the repayment of $40,000 they advanced to me, and after them to 
Messrs. Wilhelm and Jan Willink, of Amsterdam, as security for 
a debt due to them. This mortgage is dated December, 1796. 

" 110,258 acres, part of said tract No. 1, conveyed to Thomas 
Fitzsimons, Joseph Higbee, and Robert Morris, Jr., in trust to 
secure the payment of certain debts in that deed enumerated, 
being debts arising from disinterested loans of money or names, 
or attended with circumstances that rendered them of superior 
claim upon my justice or integrity. This conveyance is dated 
14th February, 1798, and was drawn and executed when I had 
not all the books and papers necessary to enable me to ascertain 
balances and claims accurately; which will account why many 
sums are mentioned in round numbers, and if any of my creditors 
are omitted that upon the same principles ought to have been 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 3T 

included it is to be attributed to the absence of books and 
papers, and not to any desire to discriminate improperly. 

" According to this disposition the tract No. 1 appears to 
contain 765,641 acres ; but owing to one of those unfortunate 
mistakes which a division of large tracts of land at different 
periods, without actual surveys, subject the divider to make, it 
hath happened so that a grant to the Holland Company inter- 
sects and interferes with grants to A. Cragie, S. Ogden, G. 
Cottringer, and A. Hamilton ; by which means a foundation is 
laid for disputes between the parties, which I regret very much. 
It is also discovered upon actual survey that the boundaries 
of Mount Morris and of the Jones and Smith tract intersect, so 
that the two together do not contain the quantity intended, and 
one or the other must lose the deficiency unless otherwise settled 
by compromise. I suppose the whole deduction from the quan- 
tity of 765,641 acres granted in tract No. 1 will not amount to 
65,641 acres. 

" This tract No. 1 is involved in the following circumstances : 
The mortgage to Colonel Smith was made by deed and defeaz- 
ance. The deed was recorded in the office of the Secretary of 
State of New York at the time of execution or soon after. 
The defeazance was neglected to be put upon record until the 
present year. In the meantime Colonel Smith conveyed to Col- 
onel Benj. Walker, upon the latter becoming the agent of 
Mr. Pulteney. Colonel Walker conveyed to Garret Cottringer 
in trust for me upon Captain Williamson's release. Messrs. 
Willings & Francis, by their attorney in New York, are pursuing 
in the law, as I am informed, this property as his (Cottringer's) 
because his name was used, but in which he had not one cent 
of concern or interest. Colonel Burr, as attorney for Messrs. 
Levi Hollingsworth & Son, obtained a judgment by process of 
outlawry under which it was meditated, as I have been told, 
to sell the whole of my purchase. I have also been informed 
that a judgment was obtained and some sales made by Mather 
and others. 

" The oldest judgment against me in the State of New York 
was one to William Talbot and William Allum, under which 
(as is said) all my rights and claims in the Genesee Country have 
been executed and sold by the sheriff. In the mortgages to 
Alexander Hamilton for J. B. Church; Samuel Sterrett for 
Harrison & Sterrett; the Holland Company and Messrs. Wil- 



38 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

links; and the trust deed to Messrs. Fitzsimons, Higbee, and 
Robert Morris, Jr., the right of redemption or surplusage, if 
any, was reserved to me, my heirs or assigns, which has induced 
me to give this long detail to enable my creditors to regulate 
their expectations from this source. 

" Of the other four tracts, Nos. 2, 3, 4, and 5, sales were 
made as follows : 

" 1,500,000 acres were sold to Mr. Cazenove and conveyed 
to Herman LeRoy and Jolin Lincklaen. This sale was made 
conditional by certain articles of agreement, and held at the 
option of the purchasers to make it a sale or a mortgage at a 
time fixed, and at that time they elected to make it a purchase, 
whereby it was supposed the deeds of conveyance became absolute, 
and this was my opinion, as I always after that election did con- 
sider the sale as absolute ;* but after the Indian Right was pur- 
chased, Mr. Cazenove thought proper to get deeds of confirmation 
drawn which he presented and left for my examination, and to be 
executed. Instead of examining them myself I put them under 
the inspection of two gentlemen bred to the law, who very soon 
informed me that from the nature of the writings and circum- 
stances relating to this 1 ,500,000 acres I had an equal right with 
the purchasers to elect whether it should be a sale absolute or a 
mortgage ; in the latter case to be redeemed by repayment of 
the consideration money (£112,500 sterling) and interest, agree- 
ably to the articles of agreement. And it was urged that as my 
affairs were then so deranged that I was obliged to keep close 
house, it might become my duty to reserve this right to my cred- 
itors and not to sign the deeds of confirmation. To this reason- 
ing I submitted reluctantly because I thought the sale a fair one, 
intended at the time by me to be positive, and if my affairs had 
been in such a situation as that no creditors could have been 
affected I certainly would have signed the new deeds without 
hesitation ; that I did not do it was to me a matter of regret, 
under which I have never felt perfectly satisfied. By this detail 
my creditors are informed of this claim; at the same time it 
must be mentioned that the Holland Company became, it is said, 
the purchasers of all my rights and claims in the Genesee tract 
under the judgment and execution of Talbot and Allum as well 
as that obtained by Colonel Burr. 

" 1,000,000 acres, sold in Holland by my son Robert as my 

* It became an absolute sale. 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 39 

attorney, was conveyed to Herman Le Roy and John Lincklaen 
by deed dated 27th February, 1793. 

" 800,000 acres, sold by my son in Holland, were by me con- 
veyed to John Lincklaen and Garrit Boon by deed dated 20th 
July, 1793. 

" 200,000 acres, sold by my son in Holland, were conveyed 
to Le Roy & Bayard and Matthew Clarkson by deed dated 20th 
July, 1793. 

" 100,000 acres, in two parcels of 54,000 and 46,000 each, 
sold by my son in Holland, were conveyed to Messrs. Le Roy, 
Bayard, and Clarkson by deed dated 20th July, 1793. 

" The Holland Company, upon Mr. Ellicott's survey, claim 
reimbursement according to covenants for a deficiency of 119,562 
acres within the boundaries of the conveyances made to their 
agents. And I am informed that according to Mr. Ellicott's 
survey there is a quantity of about 1,490 acres remaining to me 
as not being included in any of the grants, but this is included in 
the sale under the Talbot and AUum judgments. 

" The Indians at the treaty held with them in September, 1797, 
reserved sundry tracts in various parts of my purchase amount- 
ing to upwards of 200,000 acres,^' in which they now hold their 
original right and occupy the same. The purchasers within 
whose tracts these reservations lie look to me to purchase the 
Indian rights whenever the Indians shall be willing to sell." 

So far Mr. Morris. Probably no better occasion will offer 
to correct some general impressions regarding him. It has been 
commonly thought that his pecuniary troubles arose from his 
advances to the Colonies during the Revolutionary struggle. 
Nothing can be farther from the truth. He was reimbursed in 
full, and at the time of his failure was indebted to the Govern- 
ment. Nor did the Genesee Country contribute toward his 
downfall. On the contrary, his cash profits in that section must 
have amounted to half a million, with 700,000 acres of land 
thrown in, worth at the time of his troubles at least half a 
million more. It was, perhaps, this very success which led to his 
ultimate ruin. Take, for example, the money lost in the North 
American Land Company, whose capital consisted of six million 
acres of wild land in the States of Pennsylvania, Virginia, North 
Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Kentucky. Mr. Morris 
organized a stock company with these lands as a basis, and guar- 

* They amounted to over 300,000 acres. 



40 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

anteed purchasers of the stock six per cent, income on their 
investments. His partners in this transaction were John Nichol- 
son and James Greenleaf, optimists of the rosiest hue, who mis- 
takenly supposed that their associate waved the wand of Midas. 
But the fact is that Mr. Morris was never half as wealthy as he 
supposed himself to be. He had ventures upon every sea and 
in every port. His credit was high and upon that he traded. 
He was always a heavy borrower and the rates of interest in his 
day would now be thought exorbitant and crushing. His partner 
Nicholson, who had been Controller General of Pennsylvania, be- 
came a public defaulter and died in prison, but not until he had 
ruined Mr. Morris. I quote from the latter's statement: 
" Ledger C, Folio 161. This is an unsettled account, and I 
suppose ever will be so. Here began that ruin which has killed 
poor Nicholson and brought me to the necessity of giving an 
account of my affairs — but I will forbear to say more, lest I 
should not know when or where to stop." The fact is that Messrs. 
Morris and Nicholson kited paper. So long as the paper went 
without question their affairs seemed to prosper ; but the moment 
the least breath of distrust was bloAvn upon it, their fabric of 
credit tumbled into inextricable confusion about their ears. I 
quote again : " John Nicholson deceased. Ledger C, Folios 19, 
60, 84, 90, 172, 223. A heavy balance will be found due to me 
on the accounts depending between this my fellow-sufferer and 
myself — probably upwards of $600,000 specie, when all entries 
are made that the transactions require. With the purest inten- 
tions, he unfortunately laid a train that ended as it hath done. I 
here say that he laid the train, because there are living witnesses 
that I opposed as soon as I knew it ; although, from infatuation, 
madness, or weakness, I gave way afterwards." Though Mr. 
Morris was a patriotic citizen and a scrupulous, honorable mer- 
chant, he was at the same time a sanguine speculator upon 
borrowed capital, and not wholly blameless, as quotations from 
his own hand show, for the financial troubles that overtook him. 
I quote once again : " It is well known that Mr. Nicholson and 
myself owe a very large debt by notes drawn and endorsed by 
each. The issuing of these notes is the blamable part of our 
conduct, which we have both felt and acknowledged." 

Two or three more extracts from Mr. Morris's statement will 
be given for the purpose of showing his justice, integrity, and 
humanity. Of his account with Garrett Cottringer he says: 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 41 

" This account as it now stands on my books differs in one article 
from his rendered to me, wherein he charges considerably more 
for compensation for services than I have credited ; and I readily 
declare that if I alone were to be affected by it, I would not 
hesitate one moment to allow all he asks, and more, for if I had 
not lost my fortune I should have made his, or at least have put 
him in a position to make one for himself. It is not personal 
service alone that merits compensation, but his zeal, which hath 
led him into embarrassments, and his fidelity entitles him to the 
highest consideration." 

Of his wife, Mrs. Mary Morris, he says : " The sum at the 
credit of this account, $15,860.16, arose from the sale of two 
or three tracts of land or farms in Maryland left her by her 
father, the late Colonel Thomas White, which I sold with great 
reluctance when necessity pressed, and she urged me to it. I 
consider this a sacred debt, but have made no provision for it; 
therefore it depends on my creditors whether any is made or not." 
Of a debit against his son, Wm. W. Morris deceased, he says : 
" This account must be balanced by profit and loss. It is for his 
expenses in Europe; I gave him nothing else, and he did not 
live to earn anything for himself." The sacrifices Mr. Morris 
made to maintain his own sinking credit and that of others may 
be imagined from one effort in that direction. Sterrett & Harri- 
son's account against him showed him to be indebted to them 
in the sum of .$400,136.92. He admitted $302,919.30 of this 
to be correct, but adds : " I must observe that nearly $200,000 
of this debt has arisen from sacrifices made to save their credit 
when I could not pay the balance due. And finally I gave a 
security on 175,000 acres of land in Genesee on which it was 
expected they would timeously have raised money in Holland, 
but the attempt to do so proved a failure, to my great affliction, 
as well as theirs." That identical tract is worth to-day more 
than six millions of dollars. The following are a few of the 
creditors mentioned by Mr. Morris in his statement : " Thomas 
Willing, WilHam Temple Franklin (son of Benj. Franklin), 
Cadwalader Evans, Govemeur Morris, Alex. Baring, Humphrey 
Marshall of Kentucky, Wade Hampton, General Walter Stewart, 
the French Republic, Louis Le Couteulx, Ephriam Blaine, and 
Benj. Harrison of Virginia, his attorney and agent in that State. 

The reader will have observed that although Mr. Morris 
sold 3,600,000 acres of land to the Hollanders he only states the 



43 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

price of the first tract of 1,500,000 acres. For this he received 
£112,500 sterling money. The deeds recorded in the clerk's 
office at Canandaigua and in the office of the Secretary of State 
at Albany enable us, however, to arrive at the total amount re- 
ceived by him from the Holland Company. For the 1,000,000- 
acre tract he received 650,000 florins Holland money. For the 
800,000-acre tract he received 600,000 florins same currency. 
For the 200,000 acre tract he received 175,000 florins ; for the 
54,000 acres he received £7,500 sterling, and for the 46,000 acres 
he received 60,000 Dutch guilders. Turning his purchase and 
sales into our currency, at the rate of five dollars to the pound 
sterling and forty cents each for the florin and guilder, we 
arrive at the following result : Cost of lands bought from Massa- 
chusetts, $500,000. Paid to extinguish native title, $100,000. 
Interest, commissions, and other outlays, say $100,000 additional, 
making a total cost to Mr. Morirs of $700,000 for 4,180,000 
acres of land, or about 17 cents per acre. He sold to the Hol- 
landers 3,600,000 acres for £120,000 sterling, and 1,485,000 
florins and guilders, which are of equal value, and both amounts 
being reduced to our currency give a total of $1,194,000 — 
equal to about 33 cents per acre. Add to this the profit on the 
sale to the London Associates, which was £45,000 sterling gross, 
and could hardly have been less than $150,000 net, and it will be 
seen that Mr. Morris's profits on his transactions in the Genesee 
Country when stated at half a million were not overestimated. 
And besides the money profit he had remaining 700,000 acres of 
land, which will be known hereafter as the Morris Reserve. 

So far as I have been able to obtain them, the following are 
the names of the gentlemen who composed the Holland Land 
Company: Wilhelm and Jan Willink, Nicholas Van Staphorst, 
Pieter and Jan Van Eeghen, Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck, 
Gerrit Schimmelpenninck, son of Rutger Jan, Hendrick and 
Cornelius Vollenhoven, Jan Gabriel Van Staphorst, Roelif Van 
Staphorst the younger, Wilhelm and Jan Willink, Jr., Hendrick 
Seye, Egbert Jean Koch, Walrave Van Heukelom, Cornelius 
Isaac Vandervliet, Nicholas Van Beeftingh, and Rutger Jan's 
son, although I suspect this gentleman to be Mr. Gerrit Schim- 
melpenninck, son of Rutger Jan. Amongst these names only 
Mr. Rutger Jan Schimmelpenninck has a place in Dutch history. 
He was a statesman of distinction who in 1805 held the high 
position of Grand Pensionary of Holland. With genuine Dutch 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 43 

pride, patriotism, and courage he refused to continue in oiBce 
under the upstart king, Louis Bonaparte, who had been placed 
on the throne of Holland by his brother Napoleon. Louis mar- 
ried Hortense Beauharnais, the mother of Napoleon HI. 

These Hollanders were grantees and grantors in a great num- 
ber of real estate transactions in Western New York, and as their 
names are not easy, they will hereafter be known as the Holland 
Company. Their purchase was made in 1792 with the under- 
standing that it was not to be paid for until the native Indian 
title to the lands was extinguished. As this was not effected until 
late in 1797, the nineteenth century had dawned before survey 
into townships and ranges was completed and the land ready 
to be offered to settlers in lots to suit. It was provided in the 
original contract that a deduction should be made for lakes, 
bays, and other bodies of water, within the boundaries, which 
should exceed a certain area, but all fishings, shootings, and 
water-power privileges were conveyed to the purchasers. It was 
these bodies of water, together with the fact that the Indian 
Reservations contained more land than was at first estimated, 
that made Mr. Ellicott's survey fall short nearly 120,000 acres 
from the amount as originally outlined by the meridian meas- 
urement. And there is little doubt that the years that elapsed 
between the date of his purchase and payment to Massachusetts, 
and the date of payment by the Holland Company, added much 
to the pecuniary burdens of Mr. Morris. 

After the passage by the Legislature of New York of an 
act permitting aliens to hold real estate, the lands purchased 
from Mr. Morris were conveyed to the Dutch proprietors by 
the American trustees who originally took title, and a new sub- 
division was made. This subdivision consisted of three separate 
branches of interests, and the tract was conveyed by three deeds 
to the different individuals composing each branch. The dif- 
ferent interests, however, were so closely blended that one 
general agent was appointed for the whole. The sub-agents 
also acted for the three branches, making sales for either as 
opportunity offered, and using the names of the different pro- 
prietors of each tract, in making conveyances to buyers. These 
tracts were known as the two million-acre tract, the million-acre 
tract, and the Willink tract. In allotting these tracts it was 
agreed by and between the Dutch proprietors that Messrs. Wil- 
helm and Jan Willink and their sons Wilhelm and Jan Willink, 



U HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

the younger, should have the privilege of locating their allotment 
(something over three hundred thousand acres) on any part of 
the purchase they might chose. They accordingly selected a 
plat nearly square in the southeast corner of the tract, because it 
was nearest Philadelphia, where the general agent resided. This 
selection exemplifies a strange lack of foresight and knowledge 
on the part of the Hollanders regarding the relative advantages 
of different portions of their purchase. 

The number and extent of the Indian Reservations are as 
follows, viz. : 

Area, 
Square Miles. 

Cannawagas Reservation 2 

Little Beard and Big Tree Reservation 4 

Squakie Hill Reservation 2 

Gardeau — The White Woman's Reservation 28 

Canadea Reservation 16 

Oil Spring Reservation 1 

Allegany Reservation 42 

Cattaraugus Reservation 42 

Buffalo Creek Reservation ISO 

Tonawanda Reservation TO 

Tuscarora Reservation 1 

The oil spring was reserved on account of the presumed medici- 
nal qualities of the petroleum which floated on its surface. It 
was called Seneca oil, and had long been known and collected by 
the natives of that tribe. 

The first general agent of the Holland Company was The- 
ophilus Cazenove, resident at Philadelphia. His ancestors and 
brethren were merchants in Amsterdam and London, the firm in 
the latter city being J. H. Cazenove and Nephew. In connection 
with other Hollanders resident here and abroad he owned large 
landed interests in Western Pennsylvania and Central New 
York. His fellow countrymen and neighbors in this State were 
John Lincklaen and Gerrit Boon, who, having become citizens, 
took and held in connection with Le Roy, Bayard, McEvers, and 
others, title to the lands of the Holland Purchase until laws were 
enacted permitting foreigners to hold real estate, when they re- 
conveyed them to the de facto owners. The handsome town of 
Cazenovia was named for the early agent. 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 45 

As soon as the extinguishment of the Indian right enabled 
Mr. Morris to give title, Mr. Cazenove engaged Mr. Joseph 
Ellicott as chief surveyor of the lands for which he had become 
agent. The Ellicott brothers were natives of ElHcott's Mills 
in Maryland. The original Mr. Ellicott emigrated from Cul- 
lupton in Wales, and was said to be " a man of high character 
in every respect." His grandsons, Andrew, Joseph, Benjamin, 
and David possessed mechanical and mathematical genius of a 
high order. Andrew was employed by Mr. Jefferson to survey 
the Spanish boundary line, and was afterward Surveyor General 
of the United States and Professor of Mathematics at West 
Point. Joseph was taught mathematics and surveying by his 
elder brother, and was an apt scholar. He assisted Andrew in 
surveying the site of the city of Washington, and in 1791 was 
employed by Colonel Pickering, Secretary of War, to run the 
boundary line between the State of Georgia and the Creek 
Indians. After completing this survey he was employed by Mr. 
Cazenove. Some of the men who composed his original survey- 
ing party in Western New York became distinguished in after 
life. Amongst those who were not at the time foremost, Trum- 
bull Gary was an axe and line man, and James Brisbane, not yet 
one-and-twenty, was commissary. 

Before leaving Philadelphia for the scene of his labors, Mr. 
Ellicott, who knew that the variations of the magnetic needle 
made it difficult if not impossible to run a true meridian by the 
surveyor's compass, caused to be constructed by the firm of 
Rittenhouse & Potts, mathematical and astronomical instrument 
makers in Philadelphia, an instrument similar to those made use 
of to observe the transits of the heavenly bodies, which had no 
magnetic needle attached, " the prominent advantages of which 
were, that by means of its telescopic tube, and accurate manner 
of reversing, a straight line could be accurately run." His 
brother Benjamin originated the idea of this instrument and as- 
sisted in its manufacture. In order to make proper use of it, 
it was necessary to clear a space about four rods wide, so as to 
give an uninterrupted view of the heavens — no small task in a 
heavily timbered country; but the survey when completed was 
a work well done for all time. Lawyers assert that there is much 
less difficulty in establishing lines and titles on the Holland than 
on the Phelps & Gorham purchase, because of the greater accur- 
acy of Mr. Ellicott's survey. 



46 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Mr. Thomas Morris, acting as agent for Mr. Ellicott, fur- 
nished supplies to the surveying party, the requisition consisting 
of tents, bedding; towels, pork, beef, and flour; tea, coffee, 
and chocolate; medicines, wines, spirits, and loaf sugar; pack 
horses to move the tents and supplies from camp to camp, and 
hundreds of other things too numerous to mention. Game and 
fish were all around them, and we may well envy the good diges- 
tion which must have waited on appetite when this band of hardy 
woodsmen, sharp set by open air and exercise, assembled round 
the camp fires for supper. 

After the meridian lines were run, the plan of Mr. Cazenove 
was to subdivide the tract into townships about six miles square, 
these again to be divided into sections about one and a half miles 
square, and each section subdivided into lots containing about 
one hundred and twenty acres ; the supposition being that a 
wealthy settler would buy a section (about 1,500 acres) and 
divide it amongst his progeny ; but when it was found that set- 
tlers wanted farms of all sizes, and of shapes to conform to the 
streams and topography of the country, rather than to fixed 
lines, the plan of Mr. Cazenove was abandoned, and thereafter the 
townships were simply divided into lots of about sixty chains or 
three-fourths of a mile square, which could be subdivided to meet 
the requirements of purchasers. The clashing of boundary lines 
between the Morris Reserve and Holland Purchase, here- 
tofore mentioned by Mr. Morris, was settled upon the principle 
that the oldest conveyance was entitled to its full complement. 
Some of the proprietors not being satisfied with this arrangement 
brought suits for the purpose of getting a legal interpretation 
of their rights, but failed to overthrow the apparently just rule 
that the oldest title holds the property. 

It is very easy at this distance of time and in this age of steam 
and electricity to write about the settlement of a new country, 
but a lively imagination is hardly equal to drawing a picture of 
the difficulties encountered by INIr. Ellicott's surveying party, 
backed though it was by the solid wealth of a dozen citizens of 
the Batavian Republic. Every article of supply was rowed, 
pushed, hauled, or poled in boats up the Mohawk River to Oneida 
Lake, through the lake into the Oswego River and through 
that river into Lake Ontario. From thence by sail to the mouth 
of the Genesee River was the only part of the journey in which 
hand labor was not the main motive power. Arrived at the falls 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 47 

of the Genesee River, both boats and cargo had to be carried 
round and relaunched, and then again man power was suppHed 
to move vessel and freight to Williamsburg,* where a store- 
house, from which supplies were distributed, had been erected. 
It cost more than half a cent to transport a ton of freight a mile 
in those days. It would be well, perhaps, for the western gran- 
ger to bear these things in mind when trying to destroy the prop- 
erty which created his, and makes his home possible. 

Let us suppose that some necessary article has been omitted in 
the catalogue — left behind or lost by the way. Mr. Ellicott 
could not step to the telephone or touch a wire and order a dupli- 
cate from Buffalo or Rochester, for these cities had no more exist- 
ence than the telegraph and telephone. When he first saw Buf- 
falo, in 1798, it consisted of a double log house occupied by Mid- 
daugh & Lane, a house, half log and half framed, occupied by 
Captain Johnson, a two-story hewed log house kept as a tavern 
by James Palmer, and three small log houses occupied by Messrs. 
Ransom, Winne, and Robbins. Rochester consisted of the mill 
erected by Indian Allan, a mill much of the time without a miller, 
and more of the time without grist. This was the beginning of 
a town destined within half a century to become noted as the 
" Flour City." 

Nor was it easy after all the materials were on the ground 
to run a meridian line from the northern boundary of Pennsyl- 
vania to the shores of Lake Ontario. It would not be easy to-day, 
though most of the distance now to be traversed would be over 
a cleared and cultivated country. There are still, in the counties 
of Allegany and Cattaraugus, streams which run through pre- 
cipitous walls, and hills almost impossible to scale. Mr. Elli- 
cott's line to be of any value had to be straight, obliging him to 
overcome such obstacles as these, and to measure such bodies of 
unfordable water as lay in his path. I shall venture the asser- 
tion that the men of this generation are unequal to such tasks as 
were performed by their forefathers. Without the aid of labor- 
saving machinery there are not men enough engaged in agri- 
cultural employments in the Genesee Country to-day to plow, 
sow, plant, and secure the products now grown. With such 
materials as the pioneer had to employ, his descendants would 
stand appalled by the task he confronted and performed. How 
many farmers are there in Western New York at present who 
* Near Geneseo. 



48 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

know how to chop, log, and split rails, or how to sow grain broad- 
cast? How many farmers' wives know how to card, spin, and 
weave? Not one in a hundred under thirty-five years of age. 
And I shall further venture to assert that if the prairies had 
been as accessible two hundred years ago as they are now a 
great part of New England would never have had an agricul- 
tural population. Her quarries of marble, granite, and slate 
would have been opened, such of her forests as afforded market- 
able lumber would have been felled, her streams would have been 
utilized to turn the wheels of manufacturing industries, but she 
would never have attempted to raise corn and wheat against 
Iowa and Minnesota. No further proof of this is needed than 
the fact that farming lands are constantly being abandoned 
in that section. And fertile as the land is in the Genesee 
Country, these remarks would apply to some extent there. The 
cost of clearing an acre of our land in 1790, and fitting it for 
tillage, would have paid for twenty acres of prairie ready for the 
plow. 

When Mr. Ellicott had completed his survey of the Company's 
lands into townships and lots he was appointed local agent for 
their sale. Previous to this Mr. Cazenove had retired from the 
general agency and returned to Europe, fixing his residence in 
London, and afterward in Paris, where he died. He was suc- 
ceeded by Mr. Paul Busti, a native of Milan, in Italy, who as 
a young man had entered the counting-house of his uncle in 
Amsterdam, where he afterward established himself in business 
— attaining a marked degree of success and a high reputation 
for integrity and ability. After retiring from commercial life 
he became interested with some of the gentlemen connected with 
the Holland Purchase and was induced to accept the general 
agency of the Company at Philadelphia, the duties of which he 
continued to perform most faithfully and satisfactorily up to 
the time of his decease in 1824 ; his term of service embracing 
almost the whole active period of pioneer settlement. While he 
guarded with strict integrity and rigid economy the interests 
of the Company, he wisely seconded the local agencies in any 
measures calculated to advance settlement. These agencies acted 
under general and liberal instructions as to the opening of high- 
ways and erection of mills and public buildings, and when, as 
was often the case, they advised additional or extraordinary 
measures of improvement they were generously met by their chief. 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 49 

Mr. Ellicott fixed upon the site of Batavia as an eligible 
place for opening the pioneer land office of the Company. He 
proposed to call it Bustiville, but the clever Italian saw the 
base uses to which waggery might pervert the name and 
promptly vetoed Mr. Ellicott's proposition. Batavia, the name 
of the Dutch Republic and of the capital of the Empire of the 
Netherlands in the East Indies, was the name selected. In re- 
gard to this site and to opening means of communication, Mr. 
Busti writes to Mr. Ellicott, under date Philadelphia, 15th 
August, 1800 : 

" The opening of the communication through the country is 
a matter deemed of such importance that it will not escape your 
attention that the application of money for that purpose has 
been appropriated on a much larger scale than you thought 
necessary. By extending the amount of expenditures on that 
head I mean to evince to you how much I am persuaded of the 
usefulness of having practicable roads cut out ; the benefits of 
them being not alone confined to the lands on which the pres- 
ent settlement is to be undertaken, but to those of the two million- 
acre tract afterward to be sold. You will have to take care that 
the roads to be laid out at present are cut in such a direction as to 
become of general advantage to the whole country. The 
knowledge you possess of it will teach you where your attention 
ought to be most particularly directed. As I am speaking of 
roads, it will not be amiss to add a recommendation to you that 
in making choice of the spot on which your office and residence 
is to be fixed, you will select a situation of an easy and con- 
venient approach, so as to induce the emigrants to visit you." 

On Nov. 26, 1800, Mr. Ellicott was in Albany on his way 
to the new settlement, from which place he writes Mr. Busti that 
he has issued handbills off'ering a portion of the Company's 
lands for sale. These were widely circulated in England and 
Holland as well as in the older settled portions of this country. 
A part of this handbill is here given : 

HOLLAND LAND COMPANY WEST GENESEO LANDS 
— INFORMATION. 



*' The Holland Land Company will open a Land Office in the 
ensuing month of September, for the sale of a portion of their 
valuable lands in the Genesee Country, State of New York, situ- 



50 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

ate in the last purchase made of the Seneca Nation of Indians, 
on the western side of Genesee River. For the convenience of 
apphcants, the Land Office will be established near the center 
of the lands intended for sale and on the main road leading from 
the Eastern and Middle States to Upper Canada, Presque Isle 
in Pennsylvania, and the Connecticut Reserve. Those lands are 
situate, adjoining, and contiguous to the lakes Erie, Ontario, 
and the streights of Niagara, possessing the advantage of the 
navigation and trade of all the Upper Lakes, as well as the 
river Saint Lawrence (from which the British settlement derive 
great advantage), also intersected by the Allegany River, navig- 
able for boats of thirty or forty tons burthen, to Pittsburgh and 
New Orleans, and contiguous to the navigable waters of the west 
branch of the Susquehannah River, and almost surrounded by 
settlements, where provision of every kind is to be had in great 
abundance and on reasonable terms, renders the situation of the 
Holland Land Company Geneseo Lands more eligible, desirous, 
and advantageous for settlers than any other unsettled tract of 
inland country of equal magnitude in the United States. The 
greater part of this tract is finely watered (few exceptions) 
with never-failing springs and streams, affording sufficiency of 
water for grist-mills and other waterworks. The subscriber, 
during the years 1798 and 1799, surveyed and laid off the whole 
of these lands into townships, a portion of which, to accommodate 
purchasers and settlers, he is now laying off into lots and tracts 
from 120 acres and upwards to the quantity contained in a town- 
ship. 

" The lands abound with limestone, and are calculated to suit 
every description of purchasers and settlers. Those who prefer 
land timbered with black and white oak, hickory, poplar, chest- 
nut, wild cherry, butternut, and dogwood, or the more luxuriant 
timbered with basswood or lynn, butternut, sugar-tree, white 
ash, wild cherry, cucumber tree (a species of the magnolia), and 
black walnut, may be suited. Those who prefer level land, or 
gradually ascending, affording extensive plains and valleys, 
will find the country adapted to their choice. In short, such are 
the varieties of situations in this part of the Geneseo Country, 
everywhere almost covered with a rich soil, that it is presumed 
that all purchasers who may be inclined to participate in the ad- 
vantages of those lands, may select lots from 120 acres to tracts 
containing 100,000 acres, that would fully please and satisfy 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 51 

their choice. The Holland Land Company, whose liberality is 
so well known in this country, now offer to all those who may 
wish to become partakers of the growing value of those lands 
such portions and such parts as they may think proper to pur- 
chase. Those who may choose to pay cash will find a liberal 
discount from the credit price." 

Mr. Ellicott's appointment as local agent was dated Oct. 1, 
1800. Mr. Asa Ransom having built a house* on the purchase 
at Pine Grove a portion of it was appropriated as a pioneer land 
office. Mr. James W. Stevens, who had come on from Phila- 
delphia, acted as clerk, Mr. Brisbane occasionally assisting, 
though his duties were still confined in the main to the Transit 
Store House. The residence and land office at Batavia was not 
finished and occupied until the autumn of 1801. Sales of land 
at first were slow. Under date 16th January, 1801, Mr. Elhcott 
writes to Mr. Busti : " The season of the year being such as to 
prevent persons from making their establishments, prevents me at 
present from making any bona fide sales." In a letter to Messrs. 
Le Roy & Bayard dated May 7, 1801, he says: " In respect to 
sales of land we have not as yet made rapid progress. The best 
and most eligible locations only are in demand. However, we dis- 
pose of more or less every day. Settlements form more rapidly on 
the east side of the purchase than on the west, owing to its con- 
tiguity to the old settlement in the Genesee, where provisions and 
necessaries for their beginning are more easily obtainable." 

In a letter dated July 14th, of the same year, to Mr. Busti, 
Mr. Ellicott criticises the rule laid down by the Amsterdam peo- 
ple requiring an advance payment in cash from all settlers 
or other purchasers, and attributes the paucity of sales to this 
amongst other causes. He says : 

" When we reflect that there are lands for sale in every pos- 
sible direction around us, that every purchaser who comes into 
this quarter has to pass by almost innumerable land offices 
where lands are offered on almost every kind of terms imaginable, 
and that in Upper Canada adjoining this purchase, the govern- 
ment grants lands at sixpence, Halifax currency, per acre, we 
cannot calculate to make very rapid sales until we have saw- and 

* According to a tax roll dated October 6, 1800, and signed by Augustus 
Porter and Amos Hall, of Ontario County, there were then upon the Holland 
Purchase but twelve taxable inhabitants, three of whom — Johnson, Mid- 
daugh, and Lane — resided in BuiFalo. The Holland Company was assessed 
$3,300,000. 



52 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

grist-mills erected and roads opened ; all of which are going for- 
ward. 

" If some mode could be devised to grant lands to actual set- 
tiers who cannot pay in advance, and at the same time not destroy 
that part of the plan which requires some advance, I am con- 
vinced that the most salutary consequences would result, which 
I beg leave to suggest for Mr. Busti's consideration, as three- 
fourths of the applicants are of that description, and as every 
acre of land that is cleared, fenced, and sowed on the purchase, 
at the labor and expense of others, makes the contiguous district 
more valuable, it appears to me some mode might be devised 
to grant lands to such actual settlers, without restricting them 
to pay in advance. Married men are loth to settle before con- 
veniences can be had, and deprive themselves of the benefits of 
society, which accounts for the reason why our sales have not 
been more extensive to that class of purchasers." 

This is good reasoning, and the advice given had been adopted 
by the London Associates in disposing of lands on the Phelps & 
Gorham purchase. But the Dutchman is a phlegmatic, opinion- 
ated, slow-going person, and a dozen of them are only more so. 
The wealthy merchants who had bought these lands with their 
surplus capital could not understand how any person with proper 
thrift and economy could have failed to lay by a little money. 
Dutch farmers were all rich, why should not American farmers 
also have money.'' Land in America might be had for one- 
fortieth part of its cost in Holland, which seemed to them a 
very good reason why our people ought to be able to buy freely, 
and pay spot cash. Of the poverty of a great number of the 
inhabitants of the new world — especially of those engaged in 
tilling the soil — a poverty not at all discreditable — they 
seemed to have no notion. Nor did they at first appreciate the 
fact that a settler able to pay for, clear, sow, and reap, was at 
times absolutely unable to sell the products of his land — that 
their tract was farther from a market than from one end of 
the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the other, and that over 
such roads as existed a team could hardly haul a load at all. 

In another letter, dated from Pine Grove as late as December 
4, 1801, Mr. Ellicott writes: " I have made no actual sales this 
fall where the stipulated advance has been paid. I begin to be 
strongly of the opinion you always expressed to me (but which 
I must confess I rather doubted) that few purchasers will come 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 53 

forward and pay cash for lands in a new country." It would 
seem from this that Mr. Busti was an earher convert to the credit 
system than the local agent. 

The spot where Buffalo is built attracted attention as early 
as 1801. In the autumn of that year Dr. Cyrenus Chapin, of 
Oneida County, on his return from a visit to the purchase 
wrote as follows to Mr. Ellicott : " And further I would peti- 
tion you for a township of land there at the Buffalo — the one 
that will take in the town, for since my return a number of 
my friends have solicited me to petition you for a township; 
and for that purpose forty respectable citizens that are men 
of good property have signed articles of agreement to take a 
townsliip if it can be purchased; and we will pay the ten per 
cent, when we receive the article." 

If this proposition had been accepted, Dr. Chapin and his 
friends would have secured the site of a city comprising to-day 
nearly half a million of inhabitants; but Mr. Busti, to whom 
it was submitted, did not favor the application. The following 
letter from the early tavern keeper at Buffalo explains itself. 
It is dated August 11, 1801 : 

" Sir : — The inhabitants of this place would take it as a par- 
ticular favor if you would grant them the liberty of raising a 
school house on a lot in any part of the town, as the New York 
Missionary Society have been so good as to furnish them witli a 
schoolmaster clear of any expense excepting boarding and finding 
him a school house ; if you will be so good as to grant them that 
favor they will take it as a particular mark of esteem. By re- 
quest of the inhabitants. I am yours, &c., 

" Jos. Ellicott, Esq'r. J. R. Palmer. 

" N. B. — Your answer to this would be very acceptable, as 
they have the timber ready to hew out." 

The Buffalo of to-day will hardly be thought a proper field 
for missionary effort. So far as schools and churches were 
concerned, the Holland Company from the start laid down the 
rule to deed in fee half an acre to every school district on their 
purchase, and to give a plot of land to every organized religious 
society wishing to erect a house of worship. It seems hard in 
these days to account for the tardiness of settlement. Although 
Mr. Ellicott in the early months of 1801 had fixed upon Batavia 
as the site of the Company's office there were only three sales of 



54 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

land in the village in that year. Total sales up to 1810 were 
as follows: In 1801, 40; in 1802, 56; in 1803, 230; in 1804, 
300; in 1805, 415; in 1806, 524; in 1807, 607; in 1808, 612; 
in 1809, 1,160. The war of 1812 had for a time a depressing 
effect upon sales, but after peace was declared settlement upon 
the purchase became active. Mr. Ellicott's agency ceased in 
October, 1821. His administration of the affairs of the Com- 
pany had been active, enterprising, vigorous, and successful. 
He had neither done or left undone anything that could be con- 
strued as malversation, or neglect of duty. His resignation was 
his own act, and was prompted by the failure of his mental 
and physical powers, which had been for some time foreshad- 
owed. It is true, that discontent had begun to prevail amongst 
the settlers. Indebtedness on land contracts had reached such 
a magnitude as to press heavily on them. Acting only as agent 
for others, Mr. Ellicott had a right to insist upon the perform- 
ance of contracts, but there is ample evidence that he recom- 
mended a lenient and liberal policy toward embarrassed resi- 
dents and tempered justice with mercy and humanity. But a 
great number of settlers had become imbued with the idea that a 
change in the local agency might bring relief, or a favorable 
modification of the terms and conditions of indebtedness. Con- 
scious of this state of feeling, as well as impelled by failing 
health, Mr. Ellicott resigned the agency. The benefits antici- 
pated from the change were not realized. Such modifications of 
the terms of contracts as were made under the incumbency of Mr. 
Evans in 1827 were the work of the general agent. 

The terms of Mr. Ellicott's engagement with the Holland 
Company were as follows: For the first ten years he was to 
receive five per cent, cash upon all sales effected, six thousand 
acres of farming lands, and five hundred acres in the village 
of Batavia. At the close of the ten years the general agent pro- 
posed, instead of a cash commission of five per cent., to assign 
to him one-twentieth of all the contracts he had made. This was 
accepted by Mr. Ellicott and the amount was deeded to him in 
fee by the Company. The six thousand acres stipulated in the 
contract he located along the ridge near Lockport, Niagara 
County. He afterwards added by purchase a strip of twelve 
hundred acres on the south side of this plat. In the original 
survey of Buffalo he had laid out for himself a lot of one hundred 
acres, which he purchased from the Company. It was called 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 55 

an out lot, but occupies a conspicuous position in the now widely 
extended city. He bought seven hundred acres on Oak Orchard 
Creek embracing a fine water power, and the site of the present 
village of Shelby, and afterward fourteen hundred acres below 
this, which include the village of Medina. And jointly with 
his brother Benjamin and others he was interested in other tracts 
on the Holland Purchase and Morris Reserve. At the time of 
his death, in 1826, his property was estimated at six hundred 
thousand dollars, which was undoubtedly the largest estate ac- 
cumulated by any individual, up to that period, west of the pre- 
emption line. It would now be estimated by millions. 

Mr. EUicott was succeeded in the local agency by Mr. Jacob 
S. Otto, who had previously been a resident of Philadelphia en- 
gaged in commercial pursuits. He was an amiable, courteous, 
methodical business man, but his previous surroundings and 
acquired habits and tastes were not calculated to adapt him to 
the place he was called to fill. While he spared no effort to 
promote the interests and prosperity of the Company, he was 
never very popular with the backwoodsmen with whom he had 
to deal. Pie died in May, 1827, from the effects of a cold, con- 
tracted the previous autumn, at the great canal celebration at 
Lockport, which he attended as a delegate. The general agent 
of the Company, Mr. Busti, died during the administration of 
its local affairs by Mr. Otto. He was succeeded by John J. 
Vander Kemp. The new general agent was born in the city of 
Leyden in Holland. He came to the United States with his 
parents in 1788. The family at first settled on the Hudson near 
Kingston, but soon after located at Oldenbarnevelt, in the town 
of Trenton, Oneida County, where they enjoyed the society of 
their compatriots. Colonel A. G. Mappa, Gerrit Boon, Rutger B. 
Miller, and John Lincklaen. Early in life Mr. Vander Kemp 
became clerk in the land office in charge of Colonel Mappa, suc- 
ceeding H. J. Huidekoper, who was advanced to the position of 
chief clerk of the general agency in Philadelphia. In 1804, 
Mr. Huidekoper was appointed agent for the sale of the Holland 
Company's lands in Pennsylvania, creating a vacancy in the 
chief clerkship in Philadelphia, which Mr. Vander Kemp was 
called to fill. He succeeded Mr. Busti as general agent. His 
whole business life was spent in the service of the Company. 
He continued as general agent up to the time of the 
final disposal of its interests in 1838, when he retired 



56 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

on a well-earned competency, continuing his residence in Phila- 
delphia. 

Mr. Otto was succeeded at Batavia by Mr. David E. Evans, 
a nephew of Mr. Ellicott. He began life as clerk for his uncle, 
and for many years was cashier and accountant to the agency. 
He had been appointed as associate with Mr. Otto, in order that 
that gentleman might have the benefit of his long experience 
in the service of the Company, and of his familiarity with all the 
details of its business. He, however, was able to give only a 
portion of his time to the affairs of the agency, his duties as a 
member of the State Senate calling him to Albany during the 
winter. He had served but one term as State Senator when he 
was elected to Congress. He resigned his position as Repre- 
sentative in the National Legislature to take upon himself the 
duties of the local agency. The alluring possibilities of wealth 
to be fairly and honestly attained in the Company's service — 
possibilities so splendidly realized by his uncle — were more 
attractive to him than the barren Congressional honors, ac- 
companied by a then, and a still, niggardly pay. 

During Mr. Otto's administration a plan of receiving cattle 
and grain from settlers at a price to be agreed upon — the 
value thereof to be endorsed on contracts — was put into opera- 
tion. Depots were established on different parts of the purchase 
where wheat and cattle could be delivered — between certain fixed 
dates — once a year, and agents were appointed to receive them 
on behalf of the Company. The times and places were adver- 
tised yearly in advance, and a fair market price was paid. As 
a measure of relief to the settlers it was found beneficial, but 
was expensive to the Company, which was a heavy loser by these 
operations. In the second year of Mr. Evans's administration 
a general plan for the modification of land contracts was adopted. 
It was somewhat complicated, but to some extent was a relief 
from burdens that were pressing heavily upon a large class 
of debtors. Mr. Evans's agency continued until 1837. As 
early as 1835, plans for closing the entire business and interests 
of the Company had been formulated, and had practically been 
concluded before the end of his term. He was succeeded by 
John J. Von Hall, whose duties were confined to closing up the 
details of the Company's business. 

As early as 1810 it was found necessary to establish other 
local agencies. The Company's affairs extended over an area 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 57 

so wide as to make it practicably impossible to transact all its 
business at Batavia. Offices were accordingly opened at the 
following places: Buffalo, Ira A. Blossom, agent; Mayville, 
Chautauqua County, Wm. W. Peacock, agent. Mr. Peacock 
was an early surveyor on the tract, assisting Mr. Ellicott, and 
for a time was clerk in the office at Batavia; he surveyed most 
of the townships in Chautauqua into farm lots. Westfield, 
Chautauqua County, William H. Seward, agent. His history 
is contemporaneous. The world knows it by heart. If it does 
not, then it " knows nothing of its greatest men." His con- 
nection with the Company will hereafter be alluded to more at 
length. Ellicottville, Cattaraugus County, David Goodwin, 
agent, succeeded later by Stahley N. Clark. Mr. Goodwin was 
also an early surveyor, and clerk in the land office. When the 
branch office was opened at Ellicottville he was placed in charge 
and remained until succeeded by Mr. Clark. These sub-agen- 
cies were established at different periods ; the first being at May- 
ville in 1810. It was the policy of the Company to place them 
in charge of men familiar with the topography of the country, 
hence the majority of the pioneer agents had assisted to survey 
and plat the lands they offered for sale, and were able to describe 
the general features of their tracts as regards soil, water, stone, 
and timber. Afterward a genuine civil service reform seems to 
have been established by the Holland Company as well as by 
the Pulteney and Hornby estates. Promotion in order of merit 
and service was a rule with few exceptions in the management of 
their affairs. In addition to those heretofore mentioned the fol- 
lowing gentlemen acted as clerks in the principal office at Batavia 
nearly in the order in which their names are given : 

John Brandon, Andrew A. Ellicott, William Wood, David 
Goodwin, Walter M. Seymour, Pieter Huidekoper, Abram Van 
Tuyl, Stahley N. Clark, Lewis D. Stevens, Janus Milnor, 
William Green, John Lowber, Robert W. Lowber, Oliver G. 
Adams, Moses Beecher. 

We will draw for a time our attention from surveyors, agents, 
and clerks, and turn it toward the more important factors in 
the settlement of the Company's domain — factors without 
which surveyors, agents, and clerks would have been of little 
account — the settlers themselves. Like the pioneers on the 
Phelps and Gorham Purchase, a majority of them came from 
the older settled portions of New York State and from New Eng- 



58 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

land. A glance at the names of those who took contracts up to 
1820 estabhshes this. There is an occasional Dutchman, Irish- 
man, or Scotchman, but more than two-thirds are undoubted 
Yankees. The Van Beeftinghs, Vollenhovens, Van Eeghens, 
Van Staphorsts, Willinks, and Schinmielpennincks seem not to 
any great extent to have been able to persuade their neighbor 
burgomasters to essay the wilderness of Western New York. 
The Dutchman is not of a migratory disposition. He will help 
to colonize Dutch settlements, but is never quite easy under any 
flag but his own. William of Orange, though King of England, 
eagerly looked forward to his escape from London and Windsor, 
and counted the days that must elapse ere he could set out for 
his favorite seat at Loo. If a session of Parliament seemed 
likely to delay his departure he did not hesitate to make known 
his desire for an adjournment, and if necessary to use his pre- 
rogative to effect it. After the colony of New Amsterdam was 
transferred to the English and became the colony of New York, 
emigration to it from Holland practically ceased. New Jersey, 
Pennsylvania, and Maryland contributed in a moderate way to 
swell the quota of settlers west of the Genesee, but the Hollander 
smoked his pipe with characteristic meditation upon the lands 
he had reclaimed from the sea, and did very little toward sub- 
duing and making productive those of the Holland Purchase. 

We will let the descendant of a pioneer tell the story of his 
ancestor's first year in the wilderness : 

" It is winter. He has the fall preceding obtained his 
* Article ' or had his land ' Booked ' to him, and built a new log 
house. Cold weather came upon him before its completion and 
froze the ground so that he could not mix the straw mortar for 
his stick chimney, and that is dispensed with. He has taken 
possession of his new home. The oxen are browsing with the 
cow and three sheep, and his young wife is feeding two pigs and 
three fowls from her folded apron. These, together with a 
bed, two chairs, a pot and kettle, and a few other indispensable 
articles for housekeeping — few and scanty altogether, as may 
be supposed — for all were brought in on an ox sled, over an 
underbrushed woods road : these constitute the bulk of his world- 
ly wealth. The opening in the woods is that only which has 
been made to get logs for his house, and browse for his cattle, 
for the few days he has been the occupant of his new home. 
He has a rousing fire ; great logs blazing against his rude chim- 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 59 

ney back. His firewood is so convenient and plenty that there 
is no thought of economizing that. There is a Httle hay piled 
on a rude hovel that gives shelter to his stock, but it is a luxury 
only to be dealt out occasionally. The roof of his house is of 
peeled elm bark, and his scanty window is of oiled paper. Glass 
is a luxury that has not yet reached the ' settlements.' The 
floor of his house is made of the halves of split logs ; the door of 
hewed plank — no boards to be had ; a saw mill has been talked 
of in the neighborhood, but has not yet been put in operation. 
Miles and miles away through a dense forest is his nearest neigh- 
bor. That forest is to be felled, logged, underbrushed, burned, 
fenced, and plowed ; and the land is not only to be cleared, it is to 
be paid for. The task is a formidable one, but that rugged spot 
will yet ' blossom like the rose.' He and the helpful sharer of his 
toils and privations are destined to be the founders of a settlement 
and of a family ; to look out upon broad, smiling fields where once 
was the dense forest, and congratulate themselves that they have 
been helpers in a work of progress and improvement such as has 
few parallels in an age and in a country distinguished for enter- 
prise and accomplishment."* 

It is doubtful whether the lot of the pioneer averaged as well 
as the writer has outlined it. He gives us only the bright side of 
the picture. Good health is taken for granted. Yet it is well 
known that the frontiersman was most fortunate if he escaped 
the malarial and other fevers incident to all new settlements. 
The loss of an ox meant the cessation of all labor which could 
not be performed by hand, and in some seasons the loss of a cow 
might mean starvation. The cold year — 1816 — and the year 
following were periods of great suffering. Many of the poorer 
settlers subsisted on milk, roots, boiled greens, and leeks. Game 
and fish supplemented the meager fare of those who had rod and 
gun, but a majority was too poor to own such luxuries as fishing 
tackle and fowling pieces. Even the red man was reduced to the 
verge of starvation, and ravenously devoured such portions of 
the game he killed as are not usually thought proper for human 
food. During this period of scarcity (1816-17) wheat sold at 
three dollars per bushel and corn at two dollars. If the pioneer 
had possessed the means to buy, there was not a sufficiency for 
all wants. Judge James McCall who owned a grist mill on the 
purchase controlled all the surplus grain for miles around. His 

* Turner's history of the Holland Purchase. 



60 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK '^ 

monopoly was humanely exercised. He would sell to no one man 
over forty pounds of flour or meal, and to those who had teams, 
and the means of procuring food by going out to the older set- 
tlements, he refused to sell at all. When his supplies became re- 
duced he declined to sell more than twenty pounds to an indi- 
vidual, and in this way helped to carry along the poorest and 
most destitute of his neighbors until the harvest of 1817. There 
was at all times an abundant crop of those Christian graces which 
adorn humanity, and of that charity and mercy " which blesseth 
him that gives, and him that takes." The year 1813 was also 
one of great distress in Niagara and Erie counties and in that 
part of Genesee lying west of Batavia. A circular letter dated 
at Canandaigua, Jan. 8, 1814, addressed to Hons. Philip Van 
Rensselaer, James Kent, Ambrose Spencer, Stephen Van 
Rensselaer, Elisha Jenkins, and to the Reverend Timothy 
Clowes, William Neill, and John M. Bradford, and 
signed by Messrs. Wm. Shepard, Thaddeus Chapin, Moses At- 
water, Nathaniel Gorham, Myron Holley, Thomas Beals, and 
Phineas P. Bates, sets forth that " all the settlements in a section 
of country forty miles square have been broken up by the British 
invasion. Our roads are filled with people, many of whom have 
been reduced from competency and good prospects to the last 
degree of want and sorrow. So sudden was the blow by which 
they have been crushed that no provision could be made either to 
meet or elude it." After fully describing the exigencies of the 
situation a stirring appeal is made to their wealthy and liberal- 
minded fellow citizens for aid. It was promptly met by an 
appropriation of fifty thousand dollars by the State Legislature, 
three thousand by the Common Council of New York, one 
thousand by that of Albany, two thousand by the Holland Com- 
pany, and liberal personal contributions by the citizens of New 
York, Albany, Canandaigua, and other localities. It is a fact 
worthy of mention that at this period Canandaigua was a more 
important town, and contained more wealth, public spirit, and 
liberality, than any other west of Albany, with the possible ex- 
ception of Utica. The little village of Buffalo was then a heap 
of smoking ruins, and Rochester was still inchoate. 

Following the cold season there were two years of financial 
crisis affecting the whole country. It was almost an impossi- 
bility to raise money for any purpose or upon any security. 
Men with thousands of acres of land and granaries full of wheat 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 61 

were unable to pay their taxes. Settlement was brought nearly 
to a standstill. Travel and transportation were reduced to a 
minimum. Many settlers abandoned the idea of trying to pay 
for their lands, and many others abandoned the lands and the 
country. Farms that had been cleared and improved at an out- 
lay of a thousand dollars would not bring two hundred above 
their original cost. 

Most of our timber lands have been cleared and are under 
cultivation. Our forests are fast disappearing. What remains 
of them consist principally of pine in the extreme northern and 
southern portions of tlie country, which is cut for its lumber 
value and not with the object of clearing the land for agricul- 
tural purposes. Associated labor, modem implements, and steam 
sawmills, which can be readily moved from place to place, make 
the task of the lumberman a comparatively easy one. Supply 
the hardiest and most skillful of them to-day with an axe, a log 
chain, and a yoke of oxen, and ask him, alone and unaided, to 
clear a farm of a hundred acres densely covered with oak, hick- 
ory, maple, beech, elm, and other hard and heavy timber, and he 
would simply say that the thing was impossible. Yet such a 
task confronted nearly all the pioneer settlers on the Holland 
Purchase. The men who accomplished that task inherited ability 
to perform it. They came of a race of hardy woodsmen which, 
having cleared New England of timber, found only the un- 
generous reward of a rocky and sterile soil, from which sub- 
sistence could barely be gained by patient, unflinching toil. 
Inured from childhood to the work of wresting from stubborn, 
unfruitful nature its scanty reward, they cheerfully attacked 
the forests of the Genesee Country, firmly persuaded that its 
arable, fertile soil would, in time, abundantly recompense their 
labors. The men of no other country were, at that period, equal 
to the undertaking. Old England had long been under the plow. 
Holland had been rescued from the sea. It was a wonderful 
achievement ; but when the Dutchman had said, " Hitherto shalt 
thou come, but no further," his eye looked out upon meadow lands, 
and he had no use for such accomplishments as chopping, log- 
ging, and rail splitting. The Scotch were the only people 
accustomed to struggle with such difficulties as were encountered 
by settlers upon the timber lands of North America, and they 
were almost the only people from abroad who, at the beginning 
of the century undertook the task of subduing and bringing 



62 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

under cultivation such lands. And they did not attempt it to 
any extent. 

Settlers are prone to giving home names to their new abodes, 
but out of one hundred and thirty towns on the Holland Pur- 
chase only one bears a Scottish title — the town of Cambria 
in Niagara County. American blood and bone cleared the lands 
east of the prairies. For two hundred years the settlers in the 
Northern States had been woodsmen, accustomed from birth to 
the perils and privations of frontier existence. They had become 
attached to the free life of the woods, and were constantly push- 
ing on to new settlements. The pioneer on the Phelps and Gor- 
ham Purchase sold out his improvements and moved to the Hol- 
land Purchase. When civilization began to press upon him, he 
" pulled up stakes " and started for the Western Reserve. When 
the howl of the wolf and the scream of the wildcat no longer 
saluted his ear in Northern Ohio, he sought the familiar sounds 
in the heavy timber of the Wabash, and of Southern Michigan. 
There were living in the middle of the century hundreds of men 
who had helped to " clear up " half a dozen farms between New 
England and the Mississippi, and who in the vigor of three score 
and ten sighed because there were no more worlds to conquer. 
No foreigners did this. If there is one who upon landing put 
his family and all his wordly goods on an ox sled, and, following 
Indian trails and blazed trees, penetrated hundreds of miles into 
the wilderness, settling at length upon a tract of heavy timber, 
and with no tools but an axe clove his way to a home and inde- 
pendence, he is a rare exception. Emigrants came to us, but not 
in great numbers until our country had ceased to be an experi- 
ment — not until turnpike roads and the Erie Canal had made 
our new lands fairly accessible. Our public works have largely 
been created by foreign labor, but it was gregarious. The Irish- 
man and Italian will work in companies, but not one in a hundred 
of them would to-day take a tract of heavy timber land in Wyom- 
ing or Washington as a gift, and locate on it if it was scores 
of miles from a town or neighbor. Yet Wyoming and Washing- 
ton are more accessible at present than the Genesee Country was 
at the beginning of the century, and it takes but half a dozen 
years out there to turn a stump field into a thriving city. The 
pioneer's reward was neither certain nor adequate. Wolves 
destroyed his sheep and carried off his young calves and pigs. 
Foxes and weasels deciminated his poultry yard. Wild pigeons 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 63 

by millions filled their crops with his grain. Raccoons plucked his 
half-ripened ears of corn, and squirrels obtained their winter 
supplies from his gamers. Other animals besides the ass knew 
the master's crib. If Mr. Henry George had ever cleared up 
one heavily-timbered farm, the question with him of property 
in land would never for a moment have been in doubt. I will 
quote from an article on the early settlement of Northern Indi- 
ana (recently contributed to a monthly publication by Hon. 
Hugh McCulloh) a few well-chosen words having a direct bearing 
on pioneer life. He says : " I question very much whether there 
are any farms outside of the prairies and away from large towns 
which — if they were charged with the labor bestowed upon them 
at the rate of one dollar per day for men, and fifty cents a day 
for women, and with other necessary outlays (their original cost 
not included), and credited with the market value of their produc- 
tions, and their present estimated value — would exhibit a bal- 
ance on the right side of the account," 

" No one who has known anything about the hardships endured 
by the first settlers in the timber lands of the United States, their 
unceasing toil, their actual want — not of the comforts but of 
the necessaries of life when in health, to say notliing of what 
they needed and could not be supplied with in sickness — during 
the long and wearisome years that came and went before they 
had cleared enough of their lands to enable them to begin to 
enjoy the fruits of their privations and labors; — no one who 
has known anything about all this will be found among those 
who speak of land as being God's gift, and therefore property 
in which there should not be absolute ownership." 

Such was the lot of the pioneer on the Holland Purchase 
during the first quarter of the nineteenth century. In perils 
of wild beasts and savage men, in perils in the wilderness, in 
watching always, in weariness and painfulness, in hunger and 
thirst, in sickness, without remedies, physician, or nurse; in 
fastings often, in cold and heat, he clove his way — if spared — 
to the plain comfort and frugal competency of a farmer's life. 
Educated in such a school, he became a strong and rugged, 
though often an unpolished character — a man who knew his 
duties, and having performed them was prepared to assert and 
maintain his rights. We are told that such men constitute a 
state. 

After the first quarter of the century the condition of pioneers 



64 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

on the central and northern portions of the purchase was greatly 
improved. Roads that were passable intersected the settlements, 
and the Erie Canal opened a way to market for surplus products. 
But while this grand waterway doubled the value of property 
within twenty miles on either hand, it was at first a positive 
damage to settlers along the southern tier. Overland travel to 
the new lands farther west, which began as early as 1805 and 
continued in an ever-increasing flow, went mainly through the 
southern counties. Prairie schooners bound for the Western 
Reserve and remoter regions were a daily sight along the high- 
ways of Chemung, Steuben, Allegany, Cattaraugus, and Chau- 
tauqua, some wending their way to the navigable waters of the 
Allegheny, and others pushing on by land to their destination. 
This current of travel and transportation which had furnished 
a brisk trade to the towns through which it passed, was suddenly 
turned to the canal and the lakes. The advantage derived from 
location on a great thoroughfare was lost, and another quarter 
of a century of isolation from markets, and from the activities 
of traffic, had to be endured by the settlers on the southern parts 
of the Holland Company's purchase. 

Mr. Wadsworth was right when he said " few people have the 
patience necessary to make speculation in new lands successful." 
Even the Hollanders had not. Famed as they are for making 
haste slowly, the pace in Western New York was too moderate 
even for Dutch phlegm. As has already been stated in the 
sketch of the Phelps and Gorham Purchase, they endeavored as 
early as 1821 to close out their business west of the Genesee 
River, and for the sake of touching again their florins and 
guilders they off'ercd to convey all their remaining interests and 
all their receipts to date upon being reimbursed their original 
investment and expenses, with interest at the rate of four per 
cent, per annum. This off*er was not accepted. 

The earliest of a series of sales which resulted in 1838, in 
closing out the interests of the Holland Company, was made in 
1828. The purchasers were James O. Morse, Levi Beardsley, and 
Alvin Stewart, of Otsego County. The tract sold contained 
5,397 acres — consideration one dollar per acre — location Chau- 
tauqua County. It was known as the Cherry Valley Purchase or 
Cherry Valley Land Company. The next sale was in 1835. The 
purchasers were Goold Hoyt, Russell H. Nevins, Rufus L. Lord, 
and William Kent, of New York, and Nicholas Devereux of 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 65 

Utica. Eighteen thousand, nine hundred and seventy-one acres 
were conveyed, the consideration being one dollar per acre. This 
tract was in Allegany County. The Company's remaining lands 
in Cattaraugus County were sold and conveyed to the same parties 
for the same consideration — one dollar per acre. Previous to 
this, sale had been made of a considerable tract in Cattaraugus 
to Rutger B. Miller, of Oneida County ; David E. Evans and 
John Lowber, of Batavia; and The Farmers' Loan and Trust 
Company, of New York. 

Many sales and resales were made by the original purchasers, 
and there were numerous changes in the proprietary. Wm. 
Samuel Johnson, of New York, bought the interests of William 
Kent, locating at Ellicottsville, where he continued to reside for 
many years. Rufus L. Lord sold a part of his tract to his 
brother Thomas, and they made a final sale of their holdings to 
Coleman & Smith, their agents at Ellicottsville. The Lords had 
previously bought a portion of Mr. Nevins' interest. Joseph 
Kemochan bought from Nevins and Hoyt, and Thomas SufFern 
bought from Goold Hoyt and others. Rufus King, Jacob 
Ten Eyck, and Jacob H. Ten Eyck, of Albany, also had a pro- 
prietary interest by purchase. Elish Jenkins became the owner 
of 1,008 acres where the city of Dunkirk now stands. It was 
conveyed by him to Walter Smith, and from Smith to Russell H. 
Nevins and Nicholas Devereux. 

Mr. Devereux gave personal attention to his purchase, organ- 
izing the Devereux Land Company, for which Major Richard 
Church, of Belvidere, acted as agent. 

On the first day of October, 18S6, the Holland Company con- 
tracted to sell their remaining lands, land contracts, and bonds 
and mortgages in the county of Chautauqua to Abraham M. 
Schermerhorn, of Rochester; Trumbull Cary and George W. 
Lay, of Batavia; Jared L. Rathbone, of Albany; WilHam H. 
Seward, of Auburn ; and John Duer and Morris Robinson, of 
New York. Each party had one-sixth interest, except Messrs. 
Duer and Robinson, who owned a sixth in common. On the 
fourteenth day of July, 1838, the property was conveyed by two 
deeds of the Holland Company to Messrs. Duer, Robinson, and 
Seward, who held it in trust for their associates. A part of 
the lands, however, were divided and allotted in severalty to those 
who wished to assume the personal management of their respect- 
ive shares. The consideration agreed to be paid the Holland 



66 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Company was $919,175.59. That portion of the estate belong- 
ing to Messrs. Duer, Robinson, and Seward was held by them in 
common and managed for their joint benefit until May 2, 1859, 
when they closed out their remaining interests to George W. 
Patterson, of Chautauqua. 

The last and most important sale was consummated in October, 
1838. By a preliminary agreement executed December 31, 
1835, the Holland Company agreed to sell to Heman J. Redfield, 
of Batavia, and Jacob Le Roy and the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
Company, of New York, all their unsold lands, and all their land 
contracts and bonds and mortgages in the counties of Genesee, 
Orleans, Niagara, and Erie. The lands in Wyoming were in- 
cluded in these various sales, that county not having been set 
off until 1841. A preliminary deed to the Trust Company and 
Messrs. Redfield and Le Roy was executed January 27, 1838, 
and a final deed specifying the location, metes, bounds, and 
acreage of lands was recorded on the tenth of the following Oc- 
tober. The consideration money was $1,462,993.27. Mr. 
Redfield bought the interest of his partner, Mr. Le Roy, in 1843, 
and made a final disposition of all the real and personalty, and 
a settlement with the Trust Company in 1848. His son-in-law, 
Major Glowacki, of Batavia, is authority for the statement that, 
in order to bring matters to a conclusion, Mr. Redfield sold land 
on the outskirts of the city of Buffalo for four dollars and a half 
an acre, which would now bring as many thousands as it then 
brought units. 

The title of Messrs. Pulteney, Hornby, and Colquhoun, and 
of the Holland Company, to the lands bought of Mr. Morris 
has not been permitted to pass unquestioned. Squatters have 
plausibly and ingeniously assailed it in the Legislature and 
through the courts, but decisions have been so uniformly against 
them that for nearly forty years no fresh attempts in that direc- 
tion have been made. Besides the treaty and deed of cession 
from New York to IMassachusetts, the sale by the latter State to 
Phelps and Gorham and Robert Morris, and the deeds from 
these gentlemen to the foreign purchasers, their title has been con- 
firmed by legislative acts of both States. In April, 1798, the 
Legislature of New York passed an act for the special benefit 
of the London Associates and of the Holland Company, wherein 
they were empowered to hold, sell, and convey real estate. In 
March, 1819, an Act declaratory of the construction and intent 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 67 

of the Act of 1798 was passed, empowering aliens " to give, 
devise, grant, sell, and convey realty, in fee or otherwise, to any 
other alien or ahens, and making all mortgages upon such realty 
good, vahd, and effectual." Non-resident alien proprietors of 
realty in this State were also protected by the treaty of 1794, 
commonly known as Jay's Treaty. In 1821, an act was passed 
to perpetuate the testimony of Robert Troup, John Greig, and 
Joseph Fellowes, regarding the Pulteney and Hornby titles, 
the object being to make certain facts and documents pertaining 
to the foreign ownership matters of record, and producable as 
testimony in any trial between the trustees of the Pulteney and 
Hornby properties and squatters entering on their lands. Pre- 
vious to this enactment the agents or trustees were obliged to 
send to England for testimony, proofs, documents, and exempli- 
fications, in each and every petty suit of ejectment which they 
were obliged to bring. 

In 1840, the Assembly of this State requested the Attorney- 
General, Hon. Willis Hall, " to investigate the title of the trus- 
tees of the Pulteney estate to the lands claimed to be owned by 
them in the counties of Steuben and Allegany, and report a full 
and perfect abstract of such title, together with his opinion of 
its validity, and of the right of said trustees to hold and convey 
such lands." An exhaustive opinion by Mr. Hall is summed up 
in these words : " Every link in this title is complete and perfect ; 
the conveyances are formally and accurately drawn and executed, 
and the execution properly authenticated. The Attorney-General 
is therefore of the opinion that the title of the said trustees to the 
lands in Steuben and Allegany counties, and elsewhere, held by 
them by virtue of the will of Sir John Lowther Johnstone, is 
valid; and that their right to convey the same in fee simple to 
purchasers is unquestionable." Even this opinion did not 
dampen the ardor of people wishing to hold and possess land 
without paying for it. In 1844 a petition of 916 inhabitants 
of Steuben, Livingston, and Allegany counties prayed the Legis- 
lature to direct the Attorney-General to commence a suit against 
some person holding land by deed or contract from the heirs or 
trustees of the Pulteney estate, in order to test the validity of 
such conveyance. The petition was referred to Hon. Geo. P. 
Barker, Attorney-General, whose report thereon fully concurs 
with the opinion of his predecessor, Mr. Hall. In 1847, Hon. 
John VanBuren was directed by the Assembly to investigate the 



68 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

same title, and if he should be of the opinion that the lands had 
escheated to the State to bring suits for their recovery. No 
report was required from him, but the fact that he brought no 
suit is conclusive as to his opinion of the validity of the title. 
The last attack through the Legislature was made in 1850, the 
attempt being to repeal the act of 1821, " to perpetuate certain 
testimony respecting the Pulteney property in this State." 
Messrs. L. Stetson, B. F. Tracy, and Charles L. Benedict of the 
Judiciary Committee reported against the repeal, and said 
amongst other things : " The title to the Pulteney estate has 
often been the subject of legislative and judicial action, and so 
far as your committee are advised it has in every instance been 
sustained as a perfect and valid title." ..." It is manifest, there- 
fore, that there remains to be affected by the repeal of the law 
only the mere squatter who has entered upon and occupied some 
portion of this land without the shadow of a right so to do. 
Such persons have no especial claim to the consideration of the 
Legislature. They may be ignorant who is the true owner of 
the lands thus entered upon, but they assuredly know that they 
do not own the premises themselves, and are trespassing upon 
the rights of some one." 

The last appearance of the Pulteney title in court was at the 
Livingston County General Term, July, 1849, before Justices 
Selden, Maynard, and Wells. Suit of ejectment was brought 
against Almerin Graves, a squatter, by His Royal Highness 
Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland, and others, trustees 
under the will of Sir John Lowther Johnstone, deceased. The 
following are among the points made by defendant's counsel, and 
supported by ample quotations from the books : " The plaintiffs 
are bound to show who were the cestui que trusts of the will. If 
there are none in existence then the trust is ended, and the land in 
question reverts. The legal estate of these trustees in this land 
remains as long as necessary to execute the trusts of the will and 
no longer." ..." The plaintiffs are bound to show that Henri- 
etta Laura Pulteney did not devise the land in question." . . . 
" The plaintiffs are bound to produce and prove the deed of dis- 
position referred to in the will of Sir John Lowther Johnstone, 
it being the power placed over the trust." ..." None of the 
trustees of the will nor any of the heirs has been heard from 
within seven years. The presumption therefore is that they are 
dead." ..." The trustees, being aliens, could not legally take 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 69 

or execute the trust." ..." A sufficient time having elapsed 
to have enabled the trustees to have fully executed the trusts of 
the will of Sir John Lowther Johnstone, they are now divested of 
the lands in question." But these and many other ingenious 
points were brushed aside by the court, which, in an opinion 
written by Judge Wells, sustained the Pulteney title and granted 
the writ of ejectment. 

Two other cases of litigation arising out of loans of money 
on lands in the Genesee Country are deemed by me of sufficient 
interest and importance to be briefly sketched. It has doubtless 
been observed that the Farmers' Loan and Trust Company, of 
New York, either as joint owner with others or as a loaner of 
money, became interested as early as 1835 in lands in Western 
New York. As its name implies, probably one of the objects of 
its organization was to make loans on farm property. 

Some time in 1838, Mr. Charles Carroll, of Livingston County, 
borrowed from that company the sum of $52,000 for himself 
individually, and, as executor and trustee of the estate of Charles 
Carroll, deceased, the further sum of $43,000, making a total 
of $95,000. He gave as security for the first loan 2,800 acres 
of land — most of it improved — in the county of Livingston, 
and for the second loan gave security on lands in the same county 
and on improved property in the city of Rochester. Full 
covenant warranty deeds of all the property were executed and 
delivered to the Trust Company, to be held as security for the 
repayment of the money loaned with interest at the then legal 
rate of seven per cent. The company was empowered by Carroll 
to appoint a resident agent to sell and dispose of the pledged 
property, collect such sums as might become due on land con- 
tracts, and also the interest and principal of bonds and mort- 
gages, execute deeds and contracts to purchasers, and have full 
power and supervision over the property. So great was the 
confidence of the company in Mr. Carroll that they appointed 
him their agent. 

The Loan and Trust Company did not, however, advance act- 
ual cash to Carroll, but issued to him its trust certificates for 
$95,000, having twenty years to run, and bearing interest at the 
rate of five per cent, per annum, every certificate of $1,000 hav- 
ing forty coupons of $25 each attached. The principal, and last 
coupon, became due on the first day of March, 1858. 

Some time in April, 1838, Carroll obtained from Messrs. 



70 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

August Belmont & Co., of New York, an advance of sixty per 
cent, of their face value on the Trust Company certificates, 
and authorized their sale in London at eighty-three or better, 
within forty-five days, or thereafter at the best obtainable rate. 
The certificates were sold during the summer by Messrs. N. M. 
Rothschild & Sons, and the proceeds, amounting to $82,575.23, 
were paid over to the Trust Company to the credit of Carroll, by 
Messrs. Belmont & Co. Carroll withdrew the money and paid 
interest on the $95,000 up to September first, 1839 (eighteen 
months), and thereafter made no further payments either of 
interest or principal. On the 16th day of August, 1842, the 
Trust Company wrote him urging payment of the interest past 
due, but he paid no attention to the demand nor did he reply to 
the letter. The amount then due the company was $19,950. 
Soon thereafter the company sent another letter by the hands 
of Robert W. Lowber, Esquire, instructing him to make a per- 
sonal demand on Carroll, and hear his reasons, if any, for non- 
payment. In reply to this demand, Carroll denied any indebted- 
ness to the Loan and Trust Company and requested it either to 
desist setting up any claim against him or at once proceed to 
adjudicate the same. From this it was evident that he meant to 
set up a plea of usury in bar of his indebtedness. The Trust 
Company accepted the alternative and brought suit. The case 
reached a final trial at a General Term of the Supreme Court, 
held at Bath, Steuben County, in September, 1849, before 
Justices Maynard, Wells, and Marvin. William Curtis Noyes 
and Hiram Denio appeared for the plaintiff^ and John C. Spencer 
and Alvah Worden for the defendant. Verdict for defendant. 
Opinion written by Justice Wells. He held the transaction to be 
a loan, and to be usurious per se. He said : " Suppose A. agrees 
to lend B. one thousand dollars and it is a part of the agreement 
that B. shall receive the loan in negotiable promissory notes 
of a third person, due at a future day and bearing legal interest 
from the time of making the loan, and that B. shall repay the 
amount by the time the notes become due, with interest from the 
date of the loan at the rate of nine per cent. Will any one denj'^ 
that such a transaction would be usurious ? " 

If a laj^man may be permitted to reply to the question of the 
learned judge, he would say that of course such a transaction 
would be usurious because nine per cent, is above the legal rate. 
The judge further says : " And if nine per cent, would be illegal 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 71 

seven per cent, would be equally so, if the notes borrowed bore an 
interest of only five per cent." This is not clear to the la};^ mind. 
An agreement at that date to pay seven per cent, was surely not 
usurious. The Judge compares the trust certificates to prom- 
issory notes, but later in his decision he says they " possess 
none of the qualities of commercial paper." He further held 
that " though the conveyances by Carroll to the Trust Company 
were absolute in terms and assumed to convey the entire fee, yet 
as the agreement between the parties showed that they were in- 
tended only as securities in the nature of mortgages for the re- 
payment of the certificates issued to Carroll, that they were to be 
considered as mortgages ; and further, that the agreement could 
not be enforced as a loan — first, because the company did not 
possess the power of making loans ; and, second, because the loan 
and all securities relating to it were illegal and void, as being in 
violation of the usury laws." 

The lay mind easily assents to the latter of these propositions 
because it bows to the legal mind, but how a warranty deed, after 
it has been executed and recorded, can be transformed into a 
mortgage is puzzling. And if the Farmers' Loan and Trust 
Company had not, and has not, the power to make loans it should 
change its name. 

He further decided that " holders or assignees of the certi- 
ficates could not enforce payment of them, as they took them cum 
onere, and as they did not possess the qualities of commercial 
paper, the fact was sufficient to put all persons dealing in them 
upon inquiry, and thereby deprived them of protection as in- 
nocent or bona fide holders." 

The Loan and Trust Company of course paid the certificates 
at maturity. It seems to have rested satisfied under the decision 
of the General Term, though Mr. Geo. F. Talman, so long 
identified with the company, was always of opinion that if an 
appeal could have been taken to the United States Supreme Court 
a reversal of Judge Wells' decision would have resulted. 

A case almost exactly parallel arose out of the sale by the 
Holland Company to Messrs. Duer, Seward, Schermerhorn, and 
others. The lands bought having been divided and allotted to 
the several purchasers, a part of the money to pay for them was 
borrowed from the American Loan & Trust Co., a financial insti- 
tution of Baltimore having branches or agencies in New York 
and elsewhere. This company issued to the borrowers its sterl- 



72 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

ing certificates payable in London, having twenty years to run 
and bearing five per cent, interest, to the amount of £147,700. 
Abraham M. Schermerhorn's proportion of this borrowed money 
was (in our currency) $151,933.44, for which he gave his per- 
sonal bond, and a mortgage on his allotment of the Chautauqua 
lands. Not long thereafter Mr. Schermerhorn failed, and the 
Baltimore company foreclosed and took possession of the mort- 
gaged premises. Meantime the assignee in bankruptcy of the 
Schermerhorn estate closed up its affairs, and in 1843 his client 
obtained a discharge. As a part of his duties the assignee ad- 
vertised and sold at auction all the right, title, and interest 
of the bankrupt in and to the foreclosed Chautauqua lands ; 
Schermerhorn himself becoming the purchaser for the sum of 
two dollars. Previous to this the Baltimore company became 
embarrassed, and assigned its effects, including the bond of 
Schermerhorn, to Geo. F. Talman and others of New York in 
trust to pay its creditors. 

Mr. Schermerhorn having by his discharge in bankruptcy 
obtained a new lease of business life, brought an action against 
Messrs. Duer, Robinson, and Seward, and against Talman and 
others, assignees of the American Loan and Trust Company, to 
repossess himself of his Chautauqua lands, alleging amongst 
other things usury on the part of the Baltimore company. A 
preliminary trial was had before Chancellor Whittlesey, who de- 
cided that the transaction was usurious. The case was carried 
to the Court of Appeals, which by a majority of one reversed 
the Chancellor's decision. The gist of the opinion of the major- 
ity was summed up in the allegation that a litigant must come 
into court with clean hands, and that Schermerhorn " must do 
equity before he could ask for relief." Although it would have 
benefited him as well as Schermerhorn had the plea of usury been 
sustained, Mr. Seward strongly opposed it, and after the decision 
of Chancellor Whittlesey promptly made over to Mr. Talman and 
his co-assignees his entire interest in the purchase from the Hol- 
land Company for the benefit of the creditors of the Baltimore 
institution. Honorable business men will heartily endorse the 
statement that no act of Mr. Seward's long, useful, and distin- 
guished career reflects greater credit upon him than this, and 
will rejoice that the decision of the Court of Appeals rendered 
the sacrifice he was willing to make unnecessary. 

The names of William L. Marcy and Heman J. Redfield hav- 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 73 

ing been mentioned in these sketches, the way Mr. Marcy, repre- 
senting the Albany Regency, paid a poKtical debt in 1853 which 
was contracted in 1824), is interesting, as showing the Regency's 
good faith towards those who obeyed its behests. Mr. Redfield, 
residing in Batavia, represented his home district in the State 
Senate in 1824. The Albany Regency had views regarding the 
presidential election of that year which they thought would be 
promoted by the defeat of a bill pending in the Legislature, tak- 
ing from that body the choice of presidential electors and giving 
it to the people. The measure was popular in Mr. Redfield's sec- 
tion, and very few members west of Cayuga Bridge dared to 
brave their constituents by opposing it. On a close count it was 
found that the vote of Mr. Redfield was needed to defeat the bill 
in the State Senate. He was asked by Mr. INIarcy, speaking for 
the Regency, for that vote. He frankly said to Marcy, who was 
his intimate friend, that if he opposed the measure it would be 
political death to him, so far as any elective office in his section 
was concerned. " Do as we wish you to and we will take care of 
you," was Marcy's reply ; and ]Mr. Redfield voted as the Regency 
desired. The political results were such as he predicted. 

For reasons best known to themselves, the Regency, which had 
previously opposed De Witt Clinton, supported him for Gov- 
ernor in 1826, and he was, of course, elected. It was natural 
to suppose that the support of such a powerful junta carried 
with it obligations on Mr. Clinton's part, but to a great extent 
he ignored them and turned a deaf ear to the Regency's requests. 
Amongst other things they asked him to appoint Mr. Redfield a 
Circuit Judge of the district in which he lived, but the Governor 
had other views and declined to make the appointment. 

Parties at the time were in a chaotic state. Clintonians and 
Bucktails were merging into Jacksonians and National Republi- 
cans, and these, especially in Western New York, disintegrated 
to a great extent and formed the parties known as Mason and 
Anti-Mason, all to be finally marshaled under two banners, Whig 
and Democratic, The Whig party carried but two presidential 
contests — those of 1840 and 1848 — and then gave way to the 
present Republican party. The Democratic party still exists, 
but the men composing the Albany Regency who dominated it in 
State politics up to 1860 are, to this generation, only names. 
They were William L. Marcy, Martin Van Buren, Benjamin 
Knower, pious Ben Butler, Silas Wright, Edwin Croswell, Peter 



74 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Cagger, and Dean Richmond, a bold, shrewd, brainy, and power- 
ful combination. 

In this self-constituted cabinet of all the talents, Marcy, in 
mental caliber, if not in clever political chicanery, stood at the 
head. To very few of the human family have equal powers of 
mind been vouchsafed. His famous saying that " To the victors 
belong the spoils of the enemy " has passed into a proverb. He 
was easily the brains of two Democratic administrations — those 
of Polk and Pierce. 

Among many other well-known characters in the Genesee 
Country, developed during the pioneer period, but in their 
maturity more properly belonging to the second generation of 
settlers, was a farmer of Livingston County, by the name of 
Abel. Although perhaps not more entitled to special mention 
than hundreds of others, I shall give some space to a sketch of 
him because of his selection by Leonard W. Jerome to undertake 
a delicate and most important diplomatic mission. It is hardly 
necessary to say that I have Mr. Jerome's permission to make 
public this episode of the Civil War. 

The farmer was a man of great natural shrewdness and tomb- 
like reticence. He could not, like Von Moltke, hold his tongue 
in seven languages, but in his own he was not excelled by anyone. 
These qualities had attracted the attention of some of the leading 
politicians of the farmer's party, and with two of them — Mr. 
Seward and Thurlow Weed — he formed a life-long intimacy. 
Bold but impenetrable, aggressive but not rash, he was for many 
years the right-hand man of those gentlemen in the stronghold of 
their power west of Cayuga Bridge. 

It may as well be confessed at once that as a politician his aims 
were not elevated nor his methods scrupulous. The higher law 
of his creed was to get the better of his adversaries. The men 
who fought the Albany Regency were obliged to adopt the 
weapons of their opponents and the motto that " all's fair in war 
and politics " became so thoroughly established as a leading 
tenet of the farmer's faith that he came in time, if it served his 
purpose, to apply it to friend and foe alike. 

The farmer was a wit and humorist as well as a politician. 
One or two instances will establish his reputation in this respect. 
As he was driving along one day he met an old friend, a gentle- 
man of wealth and position at the bar, who said to him, " Farmer, 
I am going to Europe for a three months' vacation. Come along 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 75 

with me." " I should Hke to, of all things," replied Abel, " but 
I can't possibly get away just now." "Why not.'*" said the 
other. " Your farm won't run away while you are gone." 
" Maybe not," was the rejoinder, " but something else might." 
"How's that.? said the Judge. "Well, to tell the truth," 
replied Abel, " I have just been appointed executor of a large 
estate, and if I go off to Europe I'm afraid the heirs will get 
away with all the money." Although an active politician, the 
farmer was not an office-seeker, preferring, like his coadjutor, 
Mr. Weed, to be the king-maker rather than the occupant of the 
throne. On one occasion, however, his constituents having 
placed him in nomination for the State Senate, he was persuaded 
to stand. Shortly afterward as he was driving along the road 
he met Judge Martin Grover coming from the opposite direction. 
The judge, as well as the farmer, was noted for a rather sarcastic 
humor. After the usual salutations, the judge said: "I see, 
farmer, you have been put in nomination for the State Senate; 
now if you will promise to be half-way honest I'll vote for you." 
Quick as a flash Abel replied : " Judge Grover, if I am sent to 
Albany this winter, I must go there untrammeled by any pledges 
whatever." 

Leonard W. Jerome was a prominent figure in finance during 
the War of the Rebellion. It would not be too much to say that 
from 1861 to 1865 he was easily at the head of money-making 
and money-spending Americans. He had early imbibed the cor- 
rect notion that the enormous issues of paper money by the Gov- 
ernment must inflate values, and being a man of bold and broad 
views, he had in the autumn of 1861 already become a large holder 
of stocks, and a leader of the bull forces in Wall Street. Among 
the properties in which he had thus early become a heavy owner 
was the stock of the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, which he 
had carried from about seventy to a point considerably above 
par. Things were going on to Mr. Jerome's entire satisfaction, 
when one morning in November, 1861, a piece of intelligence was 
printed in the daily journals which startled everyone, and de- 
lighted all but a few reflecting, sober-minded, thoughtful persons. 
The " Trent," a British West-India mail steamer which left 
Havana on the seventh of November was boarded on the eighth by 
the United States man-of-war " San Jacinto," commanded by Cap- 
tain Wilkes, and four passengers — Messrs. Mason and Slidell, 
Confederate Commissioners to London and Paris, and their secre- 



76 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

taries, were forcibly taken from the British vessel, against the 
energetic protest of its commander, and the admiralty agent in 
charge of the mail. No event since the firing upon Sumpter had 
inflamed the public mind equal to this act of Captain Wilkes. 
He was lauded to the skies, and, until the popular judgment had 
time to cool, was the hero of the hour. International law, comity, 
and courtesy were thrown to the winds by hot-headed enthusiasts, 
who boastingly proclaimed our ability " to whip all creation." 
If within eight-and-forty hours after the seizure of the Con- 
federate Commissioners became known a popular vote upon the 
question of their surrender could have been taken it would have 
resulted five to one in favor of holding them and taking the 
consequences. A panic seized the stock market. Shares tumbled 
pellmell ; whilst the premium on gold correspondingly arose. 

This was death financially to Mr. Jerome, or soon would be. 
Although a firm believer in the inflation of values certain to result 
from large issues of paper money, his patriotism and unwavering 
confidence in the great future of his country inspired him with 
the belief that the paper would ultimately be " as good as gold." 
Time showed both opinions to be correct, but meanwhile he was 
ground between the upper and nether millstones — he was long 
of stocks and short of gold. The shares of the Pacific Mail 
Company were specially vulnerable, and dropped to the neigh- 
borhood of fifty. War with Great Britain would have swept 
the company's vessels from the seas. After a few days of such 
mental suffering as must inevitably come to a proud-spirited man 
who sees ruin staring him in the face, Mr. Jerome bethought him 
of a plan by which he not only extricated himself from peril but 
added largely to his fortune. It was a stroke of real genius. 
There was probably but one man In the United States who could 
have procured for him the information it was vital for him to 
secure, and he hit upon that man. 

In the early part of his career Mr. Jerome had been something 
of a politician, and was for some time editor and proprietor of 
a daily journal in the city of Rochester which supported the 
measures of the Whig party, of which Mr. Seward was the 
acknowledged head in the State of New York. In this way he 
had become acquainted with farmer Abel, and with the fact that 
Mr. Seward and the farmer had long been upon terms of friendly 
intercourse and intimacy. He at once sent a telegraphic dis- 
patch to Abel to take the first train to New York, as he wished 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 77 

to see him upon business of great importance to both. The fame 
of Mr. Jerome's exploits in the financial world had already been 
spread abroad, and the shrewd old farmer promptly responded 
to the dispatch, presenting himself next morning at Jerome's 
office. After the usual civilities, Jerome took Abel into a private 
room and closing the door said to him in an off-hand sort of way : 
" Farmer, would you like to make some money ? " " Indeed I 
would, Leonard," was the reply. " How much would you like 
to make ? " " Well, I have been building and fixing up — " 
"Never mind the details," broke in Jerome — "how much.'*" 
" Well, if you are in such a devil of a hurry, Leonard, I think it 
will take between thirty-seven and thirty-eight hundred dollars 
to put me straight with the world." " I can show you how to 
make the money," said Jerome. The farmer's eyes glistened. 
Though he had long been a forehanded man he was unaccus- 
tomed to making in a day or in a single transaction such a sum 
as he needed to " square him up." " Well, Leonard, what's your 
scheme? " said he. " You know Secretary Seward, don't you? " 
" Know him ! I should think I did ! Didn't Thurlow Weed and I 
take him out of the Holland Land Company's office up there at 
Westfield and make him Governor? Why, bless you, he has vis- 
ited at my house times and again, and when he was Governor I 
always put up at his house when I went to Albany. Did I ever 
tell you about — " " No time for stories, farmer — are you 
still on visiting terms with him? " " Bless you, yes ; been to his 
house in Washington a number of times when he was Senator. 
But what's all this leading up to, Leonard? " " I want you to 
go to Washington and find out whether he is going to surrender 
Mason and Slidcll or hold them," replied Jerome. 

The farmer " caught on " in a moment. He gave a long, low 
whistle, apparently for the purpose of gaining time for refl^ec- 
tion, and then said: "My God, Leonard, you play for pretty 
high stakes, don't you? It's a mighty ticklish job you want me 
to undertake, do you know it? " " I do know it," replied Jerome, 
" and you are the only man in the world who has the slightest 
chance of succeeding in it. Are you willing to try it? " " I 
believe you are right," said the farmer. " If I can't get that 
information out of the governor no one can. I'll try it, anyhow. 
When do you want me to start ? " " At once," said Jerome. 
" Hours are years just now." Hastily penning two dispatches 
he handed them to Abel, saying : " There, takes these with you, 



T8 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

and guard them more carefully than you do your money. I 
have kept copies. There is a government censorship over all 
dispatches, but these are harmless on their face, and mean noth- 
ing except to you and me. One of them tells me that Mason 
& Co. are to be given up, the other that they are to be held. 
Have marked both plainly so that there may be no danger of 
your getting them mixed. Now post haste and catch the next 
train to Washington." 

Away went the farmer. Next morning early he registered at 
Willard's Hotel. Bath, barber, breakfast, and fresh linen, put 
him in good shape by 11 o'clock to call on the Secretary of State. 
There were very few men in the world who could have had an 
audience of Mr. Seward on that day, but he was delighted to see 
the farmer and gave orders that he be at once admitted to the pri- 
vate room where work at that moment was going forward upon the 
letter to the British Government surrendering the rebel com- 
missioners. He was pleased to see his old friend and said to 
him frankly : " Farmer, it is a comfort and a relief to me to see 
your honest, sunbrowned face. I shall be very busy all day, but 
I want you to send your luggage to my house and be there at 
eight o'clock to dinner. Afterward we will talk over old times." 
The farmer was much too shrewd a man to turn a visit into a 
visitation, and left Mr. Seward to his labors, promising to be on 
hand promptly for dinner. They dined and wined. After the 
cloth was removed, Mr. Seward, under the genial influence of a 
glass of old Madeira and a fragrant cigar, became delightfully 
chatty and reminiscent. He spoke of the great accession to 
the Whigs by the disruption of the Anti-Masonic party, and 
of the wonderful revolution in public sentiment caused by General 
Jackson's veto of the bill to recharter the United States Bank, 
of the withdrawal of deposits from the banks and Mr. Van 
Buren's scheme of the Independent Treasury, remarking that, 
whether rightfully or not, the people attributed the hard times of 
1836-37 to these measures, and had in a single year demolished 
the apparently impregnable majority of the Democracy, and re- 
turned him as Governor. These and many other topics the great 
Secretary discussed as he only could, until the wee sma' hours 
were approaching. Abel had been no dummy during the even- 
ing. His shrewd, humorous comments upon men and affairs, 
and his racy anecdotes had greatly amused the Secretary, 

"The farmer told his queerest stories, 
The statesman's laugh was ready chorus." 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 79 

But no opportunity had as yet presented for Introducing the 
subject that was uppermost in the guest's mind. He was far too 
shrewd to explode it Hke a bomb upon the conversation, knowing 
that it must flow naturally and easily into the evening talk or 
there would be no possible chance of bringing out the informa- 
tion he was so anxious to gain. 

After a momentary pause, Mr. Seward said : " Why, farmer, 
I think I must be losing my memory or my manners. I have 
been Mrs. Abel's guest so often that I should have inquired after 
her long ago. I hope she is very well." Although not just the 
opportunity that the farmer desired, it seemed to be the only 
one likely to offer, so he replied : " Thank you, governor, Roxy 
(the familiar name by which he always spoke to or of Mrs. Abel) 
is pretty well for a woman of her years, or has been 'til lately, but 
jess now she's real miserable." " I am very sorry to hear it," 
replied Mr. Seward. " Of what does she complain.? " " Well, 
to tell you the truth, governor, she seems to carry the whole bur- 
den of this war on her mind. It was bad enough before we took 
them cussed rebels out of that English ship, but since that she has 
hardly slept a wink. She says if we have a war with England the 
Union will be broken up, and the slave holders will lord it over us 
here at the North same as they do over their niggers, and she 
never wants to live to see the day. The poor woman takes on so 
that she has nearly broken me up too." 

Mr. Seward was touched, and in a moment of sympathy gave 
utterance to a few words which five minutes later he would prob- 
ably have given anything in the world to have recalled. He said : 
" Farmer, you go home and tell Mrs. Abel to sleep on both ears 
— we are not going to have a war with England." Then sud- 
denly seeming to arouse he straightened up in his chair, leaned 
forward, and added in an impressive tone : " Abel, I have known 
you more than thirty years and never heard of your betraying 
a friend or a political secret. The information I have imparted 
to you will be public property within thirty-six hours. In the 
meantime it is known to but one man outside of this room, and 
he is President of the United States. The Cabinet know noth- 
ing about it. The " Trent " affair was referred to Mr. Lincoln 
and myself for settlement. They know that we have consid- 
ered the matter, but do not know that we have arrived at a con- 
clusion, or what that conclusion is. Having gone thus far, I 
may as well tell you that I have to-day — or yesterday, rather, 



80 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

for it is now past midnight — completed the draft of a memo- 
randum to the British Government surrendering the Confederate 
Commissioners. I know that this will for a time be unpopular, 
but I tell you, farmer, we haven't got a leg to stand on. The act 
of Captain Wilkes cannot be justified, and no nation having the 
slightest respect for the honor of its flag would submit to it. I 
am to meet the President at the department in the morning to 
look over our memorandum and give it a final revision if neces- 
sary. The following morning it will be given to the press and 
the world. If you will look in about eleven o'clock I will intro- 
duce you to Mr. Lincoln. Meantime it is time honest people 
were abed. We breakfast at nine." After expressing to Mr. 
Seward, his delight with the action about to be taken, they bade 
one another good-night and retired. 

The farmer's habit of early rising stood him in good stead. 
He was out next morning by daybreak wending his way to the 
telegraph office at Willard's Hotel. 

The fact that Mr. Seward had not expressly enjoined him 
from imparting the information of the previous night, was suf- 
ficient, under the farmer's code of morals, to justify the use he 
was about to make of it. " All's fair in war and politics," was 
still his motto. 

He had to wait nearly an hour for the censor and operator. 
When they arrived he handed them the following dispatch ad- 
dressed to Mr. Jerome : 

" My daughter has been seriously ill, but is out of danger." 

This dispatch being entirely harmless on its face was at once 
forwarded, and when Jerome arrived at his office he was the 
fourth man in the world who knew that our Government had 
decided to surrender the Confederate Commissioners. As sport- 
ing men say, he had a day all to himself. Confining himself 
pretty closely to a private room in his office, he gave out orders 
right and left to buy stocks and sell gold. The street was puz- 
zled, and when they traced these operations to Jerome they were 
in a greater quandry than ever, for he was believed to be already 
loaded to the danger line. " Night came, but no Blucher." Not a 
word or sign from Washington. Could the farmer have been 
mistaken ? It was beyond a doubt a mauvais nuit for the great 
speculator. The morning brought welcome and splendid relief. 
It was known in every part of the globe reached by telegraphic 
wires that our Government was to surrender Messrs. Mason and 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 81 

Slidell with their secretaries. Long before the usual hour for 
business an excited crowd gathered in the vicinity of the Stock 
Exchange and began to buy and sell — a custom continued dur- 
ing all the speculative period of the war. Prices went up with a 
bound, and before night had in many instances reached figures 
higher than those current before the " Trent affair " was made 
public. 

Very soon after being introduced to Mr. Lincoln the farmer 
took leave of Mr. Seward, saying he would Hke to be the bearer 
of the good news to his wife and neighbors. He arrived in New 
York next morning, and after breakfast at the Astor House 
walked down to Jerome's office. Being a stout man the exercise 
had put him in a glow. As Mr. Jerome tells the story, " He 
came puffing and blowing into my office, took off his hat and set 
it down on my desk, pulled a big bandana handkerchief from his 
pocket, wiped his forehead, and said, ' Leonard, I'll take a check 
for that money.' ' All right, farmer — how much did you say it 
was.P' 'Better make it thirty-eight hundred.' 'Very good.'" 
Mr. Jerome went into his business office and returned with a check 
for five thousand dollars which he handed to Abel, saying : " You 
have been to some trouble and expense in this matter, and it has 
turned out pretty well, so I've made the check for an even 
amount." The farmer looked at it and said: "Thank you, 
Leonard. I reckon you can pretty well afford it." That night, 
with money enough to " square up with the world " and give him 
a balance in the bank, the farmer set out to carry the news to 
Roxy. 

Mr. Jerome was too shrewd a diplomat to breathe a word about 
his achievement, and it was not until some time after Mr. Sew- 
ard and farmer Abel had joined the silent majority that he dis- 
closed to a few friends the means by which he found out — 
twenty-four hours in advance — what was to be the outcome 
of the " Trent affair." The crowning evidence of great gen- 
eralship is the ability to seize the right moment and the right 
means for turning defeat into triumph. 



82 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Clifton Springs, N. Y., Jan'y 18, 1890. 
To THE Clerk of Niagara County, 

Lockport, N. Y. 
Dear Sir: 

The Holland Land Co. closed out its remaining properties 
in Western New York in 1838 to Heman J. Redfield of Batavia 
and Jacob Le Roy and the Farmers' Loan and Trust Co. of 
New York. Conveyances in Genesee and Erie counties were 
dated Octo. 10th of that year, in the former by one deed of 
55,848.20 acres, and in the latter by three deeds granting a total 
of 160,435.77 acres. Consideration in each case one dollar. 

Will you be good enough to give me the number of acres 
conveyed in Niagara County with the consideration, and oblige, 

Yours resp'l'y, 

E. W. Vanderhoof. 

Niagara County Clerk's Office, Jan. 22, 1890. 
Reply : 

I find three conveyances from Willink, et al., to The Farm- 
ers' Loan & Trust Co., each dated Jan'y 27, 1838. 1st. cons'd 
$749,733.05 — conveys all of the 983,000-acre tract they were 
seized of on Dec. 31, 1835. 2d. cons'd $1,462,993.27 and con- 
veys all of the 2,000,000-acre tract of which they were seized 
Dec. 31, 1835, and 3d, all of the " Willink Tract " in Niagara 
and Erie Co's or either, of which they were seized, Dec. 31, '35, 
cons'd $69,656.31. 

Very truly yours, 

Dan'l Carroll, 

Clerk. 

Clifton Springs, Jan'y 25, 1890. 
Dear Sir: 

I have your reply of 22d current. I think the deeds you men- 
tion from Willink, et al., to the Loan & T. Co., dated Jan'y 27, 
1838, were preliminary, and that a subsequent conveyance or 
conveyances giving metes and bounds and acreage was executed 
later. That was the case in Genesee and Erie Co's, the later 
deeds bearing date Octo. 10, '38. Was it not so in Niagara.'* 

Yours resp'l'y, 

E. W. Vanderhoof. 
Daniel Carroll, Esq., Clerk, etc., Lockport, N. Y. 



MORRIS RESERVE AND HOLLAND PURCHASE 83 

Niagara County Clerk's Office, Jan'y 28, 1890 
Reply : 

I find it as you state. Three deeds bearing date Oct 10 
1838, and recorded in Book of Deeds 25, at pages 1, 18, and 
SO. 

Yours truly, 

Dan'l Carroll. 



MARY JEMISON. 

THE WHITE WOMAN OF THE GENESEE, 

THE story of Mary Jemison was a familiar one around 
the pioneer fireside. Without regarding the polite 
phrase of the French, place aux dames, the " white 
woman of the Genesee," by reason of her interesting 
and remarkable career as an Indian captive, and by her priority 
as a white settler on the Genesee River, easily takes her place 
as a prominent and dramatic figure in the early history of 
Western New York. She was born on the ship " William and 
Mary " during its voyage from a port in Ireland to Philadelphia 
in the winter of 1742-43 ; her father, Thomas Jemison, and 
mother, Jane Erwin Jemison, with three older children — two 
sons and a daughter — having embarked on that vessel to try 
their fortunes in the then new and far-off world. The father, 
having been bred a farmer, removed his family soon after landing 
to the western frontier of Pennsylvania, where he cleared a large 
tract of land, and for a number of years enjoyed undisturbed 
the fruits of his industry. Here two sons were born to him, so 
that his family at the outbreak of the French War consisted of 
himself, his wife, four sons, and two daughters, the subject of 
this sketch being the fourth child. Recounting in her eighty- 
second year her early recollections, she says : " The morning of 
my childish, happy days will ever stand fresh in my memory. 
Even at this remote period the recollection of my pleasant home, 
of my parents, brothers, and sister, and of the manner in which 
I was so suddenly and terribly deprived of them affects me so 
powerfully that I am sometimes overwhelmed with a grief that 
seems insupportable." 

In the spring of 1752 and succeeding seasons, reports of In- 
dian atrocities were circulated in Mr. Jemison's neighborhood. 
In 1754, an army for the protection of the frontier, and to drive 
back the French and Indians, was raised — Colonel George 
Washington being second in command. In that army John 
Jemison, an uncle of Mary, served as a private, and was killed 

84 



MARY JEMISON 85 

at the battle of Great Meadows or Fort Necessity. After the 
surrender of this fort by Washington, the French and Indians 
became a greater terror than ever to the English settlements, 
but the beginning of the year 1755 found Mr. Jemison and his 
family still unmolested. Their repose, however, was destined to 
be short. On a pleasant spring morning of that year, while 
her brothers were at the barn making ready to go afield, her 
father at the side of the house shaving an axe helve, and her 
mother busy with preparations for breakfast, they were startled 
by an explosion of fire-arms, and the whoop of a band of Shawnee 
Indians. They surrounded Mr. Jemison's dwelling and took 
his family prisoners with the exception of the two older boys, 
who, being at the barn, made good their escape. Included among 
their captives were the wife and three children of a neighbor, 
the husband and father having been killed by the first discharge 
of the attacking party's guns. After plundering the dwelling 
of its portable valuables, and taking as much in way of pi'ovisions 
as they could conveniently carry, the scouting party, which con- 
sisted of six Indians and four Frenchmen, set out with their 
prisoners for Fort Du Quesne — now Pittsburg. During the 
march an Indian followed the party with a whip to scourge the 
children and quicken their pace. It is probable that the original 
intention of the captors was to take the entire party as prisoners 
to Fort Du Quesne, but this design was relinquished, and on the 
morning of the second day they butchered, scalped, and mutilated 
their helpless captives with the exception of little Mary and the 
son of the neighbor killed at the outset by the attacking band. 
Mary at this time — 1755 — was about thirteen years of age. 
Her fellow-captive, whom she always referred to as " the 
little boy," was probably a year or two her junior. Putting 
moccasins upon the feet of their youthful prisoners and array- 
ing them as far as possible in Indian dress the party set for- 
ward, and after a toilsome march, which was interrupted for 
three days by a heavy storm, arrived on the ninth day after 
the capture at the fort. During the journey the Indians had 
succeeded in making little Mary understand that the lives of the 
party would have been spared if they had not feared pursuit 
and capture by the whites. A number of times during their 
trip her young cavalier, with a courage beyond his years, had 
endeavored to induce her to join him in an attempt to escape ; but 
Mary, knowing the danger and apparent impossibility of making 



86 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

their way without a guide through the pathless woods to a white 
settlement, declined to join her enterprising fellow-captive in 
his precocious effort for freedom. Arrived at Pittsburg, her 
boyish companion in captivity was turned over to the French, 
and was never again heard of or seen by her. What happened 
to her will be stated in her own words. She says : " I was left 
alone in the fort, deprived of my former companions and of 
everything dear to me but life. But it was not long before I 
was partially relieved by the appearance of two pleasant-looking 
squaws of the Seneca tribe, who examined me attentively for a 
short time and then went out. After a few minutes' absence 
they returned in company with my captors, who gave me to the 
squaws to dispose of as they pleased." She was accordingly 
embarked in a small canoe with the two Indian women and con- 
veyed down the Ohio. Her female custodians resided at a small 
Seneca village about eighty miles below the fort. On reaching 
home, the squaws divested her of the tattered remains of her 
civilized wardrobe, and dressed her in a new and complete Indian 
costume. They had recently lost a brother in battle, and, accord- 
ing to the custom of the Indians, little Mary was given to them 
to supply their loss. It was their privilege either to torture and 
take her life to satisfy their vengeance, or to adopt her into 
their family in place of the lost. They chose the latter course, 
and from that time until her death, at the advanced age of ninety- 
one, she was as thoroughly an Indian woman as the squaws who 
cared for and reared her. 

The ceremony of her adoption very much resembled a wake. 
All the squaws in the village gathered in the wigwam of the 
Seneca women, surrounded little Mary, and set up a most dismal 
howling, weeping bitterly, and bemoaning the death of the 
brother who had been slain. Tears flowed freely, and all the 
signs of genuine grief were manifested. One of the sisters in 
a broken voice bewailed their loss, and extolled the virtues and 
prowess of the deceased. Her eulogium ended with these words : 
" Oh, friends, he is happy ! then dry up your tears. His spirit 
has seen our distress and sent a solace whom with pleasure we 
greet. Deh-he-wa-mis has come, then let us receive her with joy. 
She is handsome and pleasant. Oh, she is our sister, and gladly 
we welcome her. In the place of our brother she stands in our 
tribe." As the sister ceased speaking the grief of the party 
turned to joy, and they rejoiced over the little white girl as over 



MARY JEMISON 87 

a long-lost child. Her Indian name, Deh-he-wa-mis, signifies 
a low, musical voice, or, perhaps more literally, two falling voices, 
and was probably given her because of the great difference 
between her sweet, childish tones and the harsh, grunting gutteral 
to which the sisters were accustomed. Her life as a Seneca 
woman now began. She lived in the summer in a town her people 
had built on the Ohio River, called by them Wi-ish-to, and as- 
sisted at first in the care of the papooses and in carrying the 
small game killed in the vicinity, and as her strength increased 
began to work in the cornfields with other squaws. After the 
crops were gathered the tribe moved each season down the Ohio 
to its junction with the Sciota. The forests in this region 
abounded with elk and deer which, in addition to their skins, 
furnished an abundant supply of meat, wliile the marshes and 
streams afforded liberal supplies of peltry in way of muskrat, 
mink, and beaver. These the women assisted to dry, tan, and 
fit for market at Sandusky and other trading stations on Lake 
Erie. 

Two years passed in this way, when peace was declared be- 
tween the French and English, and the Indians went up to Fort 
Pitt to make a treaty with the latter, taking Miss Jemison with 
them. She here met for the first time since leaving Fort 
Du Quesne — the name of which had been changed to Pitt — 
with people of her own race and tongue, who were much sur- 
prised to see so young and apparently delicate a girl enduring 
the hardships of a savage life. They asked her name, inquired 
into the circumstances of her capture, and appeared much inter- 
ested in her behalf. Her Indian sisters becoming alarmed, and 
fearing she would be taken from them, hurried her into their 
canoe and never once stopped paddling until they reached home. 
Their fears were not groundless, as the English had determined 
to offer her a home and freedom. While living at Wi-ish-to the 
Senecas were joined by a party of Delawares who took up their 
abode there, and lived in common with them. The Delawares 
were one of the subjugated tribes ruled by the Iroquois. They 
had not been settled very long with the Senecas before Miss 
Jemison's sisters told her she must go and live with one of them, 
whose name was Shen-in-jee, and she was accordingly married, 
before she had reached her seventeenth year, to the Delaware 
brave. She says of her husband : "He was a noble man, large 
in stature, elegant in appearance, generous in his conduct, cor- 



88 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

teous in war, a friend to peace, and a lover of justice. The idea 
of spending my days with him was at first repugnant to my 
feehngs, but his good nature, generosity, and tenderness toward 
me soon gained my affection, and, strange as it may seem, I 
loved him. We lived happily together until our final separation, 
which happened two or three years after our marriage." Her 
first Indian child — a girl — lived only two days, and nearly 
cost its young mother her life; her second, a son, was born in 
the fifth winter of her captivity, and proved to be a strong and 
healthy child, living until 1811, when he was killed in a quarrel 
by his younger brother John. Her eldest boy she called Thomas, 
after her murdered father. When this child was about nine 
months old she set out on foot for Little Beards town on the 
Genesee River. Her two sisters had preceded her by more than 
a year. She was accompanied on the journey by her husband 
and her three brothers, the latter belonging to the Seneca tribe. 
Arrived in the neighborhood of Sandusky, her husband, Sen-in- 
jee, concluded to return to Wi-ish-to and spend the winter hunt- 
ing with his friends. He accordingly sent her forward with 
her brothers, promising to join them in the spring on the 
Genesee. 

Now began a march which for unflinching fortitude and 
plucky endurance has scarcely a parallel. Let us hear her own 
account of it. She says : " Those only who have traveled on foot 
a distance of five or six hundred miles through an almost pathless 
wilderness can form an idea of the fatigue and suffering I en- 
dured on that journey. My clothing was thin and illy calcu- 
lated to defend me from the drenching rains with which I was 
almost daily wet, and at night, with nothing but my wet blanket 
to cover me, I had to sleep on the bare ground, without shelter, 
save such as nature provided. In addition to all this, I had to 
carry my boy, then about nine months old, every step of the 
journey, on my back, and provide for his comfort and prevent 
his suffering, as far as the poverty of my means would admit." 

Be it remembered that the woods were pathless and continuous, 
that the streams were swollen and bridgeless, and that but one 
of the party was acquainted with the trail, over which he had 
passed in going to and returning from the Cherokee wars. 
Sherman's march to the sea was a holiday parade compared with 
the heroism of this tramp by the plucky little Irish woman. 
Her brothers had caught two horses near a deserted Indian 



MARY JEMISON 89 

village, but with that noble disdain of toil characteristic of the 
red man they bestrode the steeds, and left the delicate under- 
sized white woman with her burden to struggle after them on 
foot, never apparently having heard of Dogberry's remark upon 
" two riding of a horse." But all things have an end, and the 
party at last arrived at Little Beards town on the Genesee, where 
they were received with every demonstration of welcome by the 
sisters who had preceded them, and by other members of the In- 
dian family. Mrs, Jemison says : " I spent the winter com- 
fortably and as agreeably as could have been expected in the 
absence of my kind husband." It will be seen from this that, 
although just past her eighteenth year, she had already become 
thoroughly identified and satisfied with her mode of life and 
surroundings. But she was never again to see her kind husband. 
He died at Wi-ish-to the winter after leaving her. This, she 
says, " was a heavy blow, but after a few months my grief wore 
off and I became contented." Another, and to her an appar- 
ently heavier, blow was impending. Peace had been declared 
between the French and English and a bounty had been offered 
to any one who would bring in the prisoners that had been taken 
during the war to the military post at Niagara, where they were 
to be redeemed and set at liberty. She preferred death to liberty, 
and an agreement was made with one of her Indian brothers that 
sooner than see her delivered up to the whites and freedom she 
was to die by his hand. It will hardly be necessary after this 
statement to again assert how strongly she had become attached 
to her Indian mode of life. She remained in hiding until all 
danger of her being set at liberty had passed, and then joyfully 
resumed her place in the tribe. She soon after married a Seneca 
warrior whose name was Hiokatoo, though commonly called 
Gardeau, by whom she had four daughters and two sons. Her 
affection for her relatives from whom she was so terribly parted 
seems still to have been strong, as she named her children for 
them, calling the girls Jane, Nancy, Betsy, and Polly, and the 
boys John and Jesse. Thoroughly satisfied with her surround- 
ings, she thus describes them : " No people can live more happily 
than the Indians did in times of peace before the introduc- 
tion of spirituous liquors among them. Their lives were a con- 
tinual round of pleasure. Their cares were few, their wants 
were only for to-day, their thoughts not extending to the uncer- 
tainties of to-morrow." She pays high tribute to the honesty 



90 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

and morality of the Indians, tells us they despised deception and 
falsehood, and held chastity in such veneration that a violation 
of it was considered sacrilege. They were living this peaceful, 
virtuous, arcadian life, according to Mrs. Jemison, when the 
trouble that had long been brewing between King and Colonies 
was about to break forth in rebellious war. 

Anxious to secure the neutrality of the Six Nations, the Col- 
onies called their sachems, chiefs, and warriors together in a 
general council, which was held at German Flats, in order to 
ascertain in good time whom they should consider and treat as 
friends and whom as enemies in the war then about to break 
out. The result was a treaty of peace in which the Iroquois 
solemnly agreed that in event of the outbreak of hostilities they 
would not take up arms on either side, but would observe a strict 
neutrality. About a year after this, agents were sent to the 
Six Nations requesting them to convene in general council at 
Oswego for the purpose of conferring with British Commis- 
sioners, who were desirous to secure their assistance in sub- 
duing the rebels who had risen against the good King, their 
master, and were about to rob him of a great part of his pos- 
sessions and wealth. The council having convened, and its 
object having been stated by the British envoys, the sachems 
arose and informed them of the nature of the treaty they had 
made the year previous with the people of the States, and de- 
clared they would not violate it by taking up the hatchet for 
either side. The Commissioners, however, were not to be denied. 
They represented to the Indians that the people of the Colonies 
were few, poor, and easily to be subdued; while the good King 
was rich and powerful, both in money and subjects ; that his rum 
was as plentiful as the waters of Lake Ontario and his soldiers 
as numerous as the sands on its shores, and if they would assist 
their great father, the good King, the};^ should never want for 
money, arms, rum, or blankets. 

Here Mrs. Jeraison's dusky idols step down from their pedes- 
tals. Their fidelity is no longer perfect. They no longer de- 
spise deception and falsehood. They are no longer candid and 
honorable in their sentiments. In a moment they become dis- 
honorable, false, and treacherous. Stimulated by bloodthirsti- 
ness and greed they concluded a treaty with the British Com- 
missioners in which they agreed to take up arms against the 
Colonies and continue in his Majesty's service until his rebellious 



MARY JEMISON 91 

subjects were subdued. As soon as the treaty was ratified, the 
Commissioners made a present to each Indian of a suit of clothes, 
a brass kettle, a gun, a tomahawk and scalping knife, a quantity 
of powder and lead, a piece of gold, and promised a bounty on 
every scalp that should be brought in. Thus equipped, these 
merciless devils went forth to torture, slaughter, and scalp men, 
women, and children, who had given them no offense, and with 
whom they had but a short time before made a treaty of strict 
neutrality. It would be idle to write words denouncing the red 
man. He acted up to his lights and instincts. His white em- 
ployers acted according to their instincts, but not according to 
their lights. Their conduct may be safely left to the just judg- 
ment of mankind. 

For a time all went well with the red men, and they burned, 
scalped, and tortured the frontier settlers almost without op- 
position, but the cry for relief at length was heeded, and in the 
autumn of 1779, General Sullivan was sent with an army to 
devastate the Indian country and destroy their means of sub- 
sistence. He performed the work effectually, and the allies of 
the good King learned by sad experience that in war there are 
blows to receive as well as blows to give. It is plainly to be 
seen from Mrs. Jemison's narrative that her sympathies were 
wholly with the Indians and against the whites in the war then 
going on. She says of Sullivan and his army : " They destroyed 
every article of food they could lay their hands on. They burnt 
our houses, killed what few cattle and horses they could find, 
destroyed our fruit trees, and left nothing but the bare soil and 
timber." She congratulates herself that " The Indians had 
eloped and were nowhere to be found." The noble red man left 
his squaw and pappooses to shift for themselves, and took to the 
woods. The result, so far as Mrs. Jemison and her offspring 
were concerned, was that she was obliged to husk corn for two 
negroes whose crops were not destroyed, and through this labor 
accumulated twenty-five bushels of shelled grain which kept her 
family in samp and cakes for the winter. 

Soon after the close of the Revolutionary War the Indians, by 
treaty, agreed to surrender all prisoners held by them, and Mary 
was again offered her liberty, which she again refused to accept. 
The Indians were pleased with her loyalty, and told her if it was 
her choice to live among them she should have a piece of land 
which she could call her own, and bequeath at her decease to her 



92 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

children. For a long time no attempt was made to fulfill this 
promise, but when the great council was held at Big Tree, 
Farmers Brother sent for her to attend. He presented and 
urged her claim to the land that had been promised her. Red 
Jacket opposed the gift with all his influence and eloquence, but 
the little white woman had able champions in the United States 
Commissioners, two of whom, Jasper Parrish and Horatio Jones, 
having been many years in captivity among the Indians, were 
able to argue her case with Red Jacket in his own tongue, and 
at length convinced him that it was the white people and not the 
Indians who were giving the land, and gained his assent to the 
transfer. In this way she became possessed of what has been 
known ever since as the Gardeau Reservation, which is situated 
on both sides of the Genesee River, near Mount Morris, and con- 
tains about 18,000 acres of land. Mr. James Wadsworth, of 
Geneseo, who now owns a part of the tract, estimates the value 
of the whole reservation at $45 per acre, or a total of $800,000, 
as the present worth of the gift to the white woman. Referring 
to her property she says : " My flats were extremely fertile but 
needed more labor than my daughters and myself were able to per- 
form. In order that we might live with greater ease. Captain 
Parrish, with the consent of the chiefs, gave me liberty to let or 
lease my land to white people to till on shares. This made my 
task less burdensome, while at the same time I was better supplied 
with the means of support." 

Although now a rich landed proprietress and able to live at 
her ease, Mrs. Jemison was by no means free from trouble and 
sorrow. She was destined again to encounter severe domestic 
afflictions. Her second husband, Hiokatoo, was about fifty-five 
years of age when she married him — she about twenty -two. 
A more merciless wretch and red-handed fiend never breathed. 
To bum the cabin of a white settler and throw his helpless chil- 
dren into the flames before their parents' eyes, to take an infant 
child from its mother's arms and dash its brains out against a 
stump or stone, to practice every torture upon prisoners that 
ingenious deviltry could invent, was pastime to this gentle 
savage. Yet Madam Hiokatoo says he " was a kind and atten- 
tive husband, and uniformly treated me with all the tenderness 
due a wife." Her estimate of the Indian character must be re- 
ceived with many grains of allowance. General Sheridan's is 
preferable : " The only good Indian is a dead one." Even Mrs. 



MARY JEMISON 93 

Jemlson Is forced to admit that her loving partner's " cruelties 
to his enemies were unparalleled, and not to be palliated." 

Her punishment for association with him came in bearing 
children to him who inherited his disposition. Two of her sons 
were murdered by a third. The fratricide seems to have pos- 
sessed all his sire's bad traits and none of his good ones — if he 
had any. In a quarrel with his elder half-brother, Thomas (son 
of Shen-in-jee), he seized him by the scalp and dragged him out 
of their cabin and dispatched him with a tomahawk. The 
sachems assembled in council, tried John, the offender, according 
to their laws, and acquitted him. A statement of the grounds 
of this decision will give us some insight into Indian notions of 
justice. Thomas, for some cause not known, had always called 
his brother John a witch, and as they grew to manhood this was 
the cause of frequent quarrels between them. Another source 
of contention arose from the fact that John had two wives, which 
Thomas held to be wrong, although polygamy was at the time 
tolerated by the tribe. When sober, Thomas was peaceful, but 
when under the influence of liquor, he was quarrelsome and seemed 
to lose all reason and act like a maniac. In one of these fits of 
delirium he had threatened his mother for having given birth 
to a witch (John), and had gone so far as to raise a tomahawk 
to brain her. In July, 1811, he came to her house in her 
absence, and, being intoxicated, at once began a quarrel with 
his brother, who dispatched him as stated. In view of all the 
facts, the sachems adjudged Thomas to be the aggressor, and 
acquitted John. It would be a mistake to conclude from this 
relation that John Jemison was dangerous only when assailed. 
On the contrary, he was fiendish and aggressive in the extreme. 
His mother says of him that " from childhood he carried some- 
thing in his features indicative of an evil disposition, and It was 
the opinion of those who knew him that he would be guilty of 
some crime deserving death." Such a crime he committed within 
a twelvemonth after having killed Thomas, by murdering his 
younger brother Jesse in a drunken quarrel. No notice seems 
to have been taken of this butchery either by whites or 
natives, and its perpetrator lived unmolested until some time In 
1817, when he met his death at the hands of two Squakie Hill 
Indians named Doctor and Jack. The sins of the father were 
visited upon the children of Mrs. Jemison, all of her sons having 
met violent deaths. To her youngest son, Jesse, she was af- 



94 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

fectionately devoted. She describes him as being mild-tempered, 
good-mannered, intimate with the white people, whose habits 
of industry he copied, and willing in every way to assist her in 
her labors, and make her burdens lighter. He shunned the 
company of his brothers, and this, she says, " together with my 
partiality for him, excited in his brother John a degree of envy 
that nothing short of death would satisfy." 

Border warfare develops many remarkable characters, both 
good and evil. One of these who obtained a bad eminence dur- 
ing the Revolutionary struggle, and was a prominent figure in 
the early history of the Genesee Country, was Ebenezer, or Indian, 
Allen. He was sheltered and protected by the White Woman, 
with whom he established a cordial and proper intimacy. She 
was to him a most faithful friend and ally. Menace and en- 
treaty were alike powerless to shake her loyalty to the backwoods 
renegade. Her recital of some of the incidents of his career 
will be given in her own words: " Some time near the close of 
the Revolutionary War, a white man, by the name of Ebenezer 
Allen, left his people, in the State of Pennsylvania, on account 
of some disaffection toward his countrymen, and came to the 
Genesee River to reside with the Indians. He tarried at Geni- 
shau a few days, and came up to Gardeau, where I then resided. 
He was, apparently, without any business that would sup- 
port him ; but he soon became acquainted with my son Thomas, 
with whom he hunted for a long time, and made his home with 
him at my house. Winter came on, and he continued his 
stay.* 

" When Allen came to my house I had a white man living on 
my land, who had a Nanticoke squaw for his wife, with whom he 
had lived very peaceably ; for he was a moderate man, commonly, 
and she was a kind, gentle, cunning creature. It so happened 
that he had no hay for his cattle ; so that in the winter he was 
obliged to drive them every day perhaps a mile from his house to 
let them feed on the rushes, which in those days were so numerous 
as to nearly cover the ground. 

" Allen, having frequently seen the squaw In the fall, took the 
opportunity when her husband was absent with his cows daily to 
make her a visit ; and in return for his kindnesses she made and 

* Ebenezer Allen was no hero, but rather, a desperado. He warred 
against his own race, country, and color ; and vied with his savage allies in 
deeds of cruelty and bloodshed. He was a native of New Jersey." 

— Turner's History op the Holland Purchase, p. 297. 



MARY JEMISON 95 

gave him a red cap, finished and decorated in the highest Indian 
style. 

" The husband had for some considerable length of time felt 
a degree of jealousy that Allen was trespassing upon his rights, 
with the consent of his squaw ; but when he saw Allen dressed in 
so fine an Indian cap, and found that his dear Nanticoke had 
presented it to him, his doubts all left him, and he became so 
violently enraged that he caught her by the hair of her head, 
dragged her on the ground to my house, a distance of forty 
rods, and threw her in at the door. Hiokatoo, my husband, ex- 
asperated at the sight of so much inhumanity, hastily took down 
his old tomahawk, which for a while had lain idle, shook it over 
the cuckold's head, and bade him jogo (i. e., go off). The en- 
raged husband, well knowing that he should feel a blow if he 
waited to hear the order repeated, instantly retreated, and went 
down the river to his cattle. We protected the poor Nanticoke 
woman, and gave her victuals ; and Allen sympathized with her 
in her misfortunes till spring, when her husband came to her, 
acknowledged his former errors, and that he had abused her 
without a cause, promised a reformation, and she received him 
with every mark of a renewal of her affection. They went home 
lovingly, and soon after removed to Niagara. 

" The same spring, Allen commenced working my flats, and 
continued to labor there till after the peace of 1783. He then 
went to Philadelphia on some business that detained him but a 
few days, and returned with a horse and some dry goods, which 
he carried to a place that is now called Mount Morris, where he 
built or bought a small house. 

" The British and Indians on the Niagara frontier, dis- 
satisfied with the treaty of peace, were determined, at all hazards, 
to continue their depredations upon the white settlements which 
lay between them and Albany. They actually made ready, and 
were about setting out on an expedition to that effect, when 
Allen (who by this time understood their system of war) took a 
belt of wampum, which he had fraudulently procured, and car- 
ried it as a token of peace from the Indians to the commander 
of the nearest American mihtary post. The Indians were soon 
answered by the American officer, that the wampum was cordially 
accepted, and that a continuance of peace was ardently wished 
for. The Indians, at this, were chagrined and disappointed 
beyond measure; but, as they held the wampum to be a sacred 



96 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

thing, they dared not go against the import of its meaning, and 
immediately buried the hatchet, as it respected the people of the 
United States, and smoked the pipe of peace. They, however, 
resolved to punish Allen for his officiousness in meddling with 
their national affairs, by presenting the sacred wampum without 
their knowledge ; and went about devising means for his detection. 
A party was accordingly dispatched from Fort Niagara to ap- 
prehend him, with orders to conduct him to that post for trial, 
or for safe keeping, till such time as his fate should be deter- 
mined upon in a legal manner. 

" The party came on ; but before it arrived at Gardeau, Allen 
got news of its approach, and fled for safety, leaving the horse 
and goods that he had brought from Philadelphia an easy prey 
to his enemies. He had not been long absent when they arrived 
at Gardeau, where they made diligent search for him till they 
were satisfied that they could not find him, and then seized the 
effects which he had left and returned to Niagara. My son 
Thomas went with them, with Allen's horse, and carried the 
goods. 

" Allen, on finding that his enemies had gone, came back to my 
house, where he lived as before ; but of his return they were soon 
notified at Niagara, and Nettles (who married Priscilla Ramsay), 
with a small party of Indians, came on to take him. He, how- 
ever, by some means found that they were near, and gave me his 
box of money and trinkets to keep safely till he called for it, and 
again took to the woods. Nettles came on, determined, at all 
events, to take him before he went back; and, in order to ac- 
complish his design, he, with his Indians, hunted in the day time, 
and lay by at night at my house ; and in that way they practiced 
for a number of days. Allen watched the motions of his pur- 
suers, and every night after they had gone to rest, came home 
and got some food, and then returned to his retreat. It was in 
the fall, and the weather was cold and rainy, so that he suffered 
extremely. Some nights he sat in my chamber till nearly day- 
break, while his enemies were below ; and when the time arrived, 
I assisted him to escape unnoticed. 

" Nettles at length abandoned the chase, went home, and Allen, 
all in tatters, came in. By running in the woods his clothing 
had become torn into rags, so that he was in a suffering condi- 
tion, almost naked. Hiokatoo gave him a blanket, and a piece 
of broadcloth for a pair of trousers. Allen made his trousers 



MARY JEMISON 97 

himself, and then built a raft, on which he went down the river to 
his own place at Mount Morris. 

" About that time he married a squaw, whose name was Sally. 

" The Niagara people, finding that he was at his own house, 
came and took him by surprise, and carried him to Niagara. 
Fortunately for him, it so happened that just as they arrived at 
the fort, a house took fire, and his keepers all left him, to save 
the building if possible. Allen had supposed his doom to be 
nearly sealed ; but, finding himself at liberty, he took to his heels, 
left his escort to put out the fire, and ran to Tonawanda. There 
an Indian gave him some refreshments, and a good gun, with 
which he hastened on to Little Beard's Town, where he found his 
squaw. Not daring to risk himself at that place, for fear of 
being given up, he made her but a short visit, and came im- 
mediately to Gardeau. 

" Just as he got to the top of the hill above the Gardeau Flats, 
he discovered a party of British soldiers and Indians in pursuit 
of him ; and, in fact, they were so near that he was satisfied that 
they saw him, and concluded that it would be impossible for him 
to escape. The love of liberty, however, added to his natural 
swiftness, gave him sufficient strength to make his escape to his 
former castle of safety. His pursuers came immediately to my 
house, where they expected to have found him secreted, and under 
my protection. They told me where they had seen him but a few 
moments before, and that they were confident that it was within 
my power to put him into their hands. As I was perfectly clear 
of having had any hand in his escape, I told them plainly that I 
had not seen him since he was taken to Niagara, and that I could 
give them no information at all respecting him. Still unsatis- 
fied, and doubting my veracity, they advised my Indian brother 
to use his influence to draw from me the secret of his concealment, 
which they had an idea that I considered of great importance, 
not only to him but to myself. I persisted in my ignorance of 
his situation, and finally they left me. 

" Although I had not seen Allen, I knew his place of security, 
and was well aware that, if I told them the place where he had 
formerly hid himself, they would have no difficulty in making him 
a prisoner. 

" He came to my house in the night, and awoke me with the 
greatest caution, fearing that some of his enemies might be 
watching to take him at a time when, and in a place where, it would 



98 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

be impossible for him to make his escape. I got up, and assured 
him that he was then safe; but that his enemies would return 
early in the morning, and search him out if it should be possible. 
Having given him some victuals, which he received thankfully, I 
told him to go, but to return the next night to a certain corner 
of the fence near my house, where he would find a quantity of 
meal that I would have prepared and deposited there for his 
use. 

" Early the next morning. Nettles and his company came in 
while I was pounding the meal for Allen, and insisted upon my 
giving him up. I again told them that I did not know where he 
was, and that I could not, neither would I, tell them anything 
about him. I well knew that Allen considered his life in my 
hands ; and although it was my intention not to lie, I was fully 
determined to keep his situation a profound secret. They con- 
tinued their labor, and examined, as they supposed, every crevice, 
gully, tree, and hollow log in the neighboring woods, and at last 
concluded that he had left the country, gave him up for lost, and 
returned home. 

" At that time Allen lay in a secret place in the gulf, a short 
distance above my flats, in a hole that he accidentally found in a 
rock near the river. At night he came and got the meal at the 
corner of the fence as I had directed him, and afterward lived in 
the gulf two weeks. Each night he came to the pasture and 
milked one of my cows, without any other vessel in which to 
receive the milk than his hat, out of which he drank it. I sup- 
plied him with meal, but, fearing to build a fire, he was obliged 
to eat it raw, and wash it down with the milk. Nettles having left 
our neighborhood, and Allen considering himself safe, left his 
little cave, and came home. I gave him his box of money and 
trinkets, and he went to his own house at Mount IMorris. It was 
generally considered, by the Indians of our tribe, that Allen 
was an innocent man, and that the Niagara people were persecut- 
ing him without a just cause. Little Beard, then about to go 
to the eastward on public business, charged his Indians not to 
meddle with Allen, but to let him live among them peaceably, and 
enjoy himself with his family and property if he could. Having 
the protection of the chief, he felt himself safe, and let his situa- 
tion be known to the whites, from whom he suspected no harm. 
They, however, were more inimical than our Indians, and were 
easily bribed by Nettles to assist in bringing him to justice. 



MARY JEMISON 99 

Nettles came on, and the whites, as they had agreed, gave poor 
Allen up to him. He was bound, and carried to Niagara, where 
he was confined in prison through the winter. In the spring he 
was taken to Montreal or Quebec for trial, and was honorably 
acquitted. The crime for which he was tried was for having 
carried the wampum to the Americans, and thereby putting too 
sudden a stop to their war. 

" From the place of his trial he went directly to Philadelphia, 
and purchased on credit a boat load of goods, which he brought 
by water to Conhocton, where he left them, and came to Mount 
Morris for assistance to get them brought on. The Indians 
readily went with horses, and brought them to his house, where 
he disposed of his dry goods ; but not daring to let the Indians 
begin to drink strong liquor, for fear of the quarrels which would 
naturally follow, he sent his spirits to my place, where we sold 
them. For his goods he received ginseng roots, principally, 
and a few skins. Ginseng at that time was plenty, and com- 
manded a high price. We prepared the whole that he received 
for the market, expecting that he would carry them to Philadelphia. 
In that I was disappointed; for, when he had disposed of, and 
got pay for, all his goods, he took the ginseng and skins to 
Niagara, and there sold them, and came home. 

" Tired of dealing in goods, he planted a large field of corn 
on or near his own land, attended to it faithfully, and succeeded 
in raising a large crop, which he harvested, loaded into canoes, 
and carried down the river to the mouth of Allen's Creek, then 
called by the Indians Gin-is-a-ga, where he unloaded it, built him 
a house, and lived with his family. 

" The next season he planted com at that place, and built a 
grist-mill and sawmill on Genesee Falls, now called Rochester. 

" At the time Allen built the mills, he had an old German living 
with him by the name of Andrews, whom he sent in a canoe down 
the river with his mill irons. Allen went down at the same time ; 
but, before they got to the mills, Allen threw the old man oA^er- 
board, as it was then generally believed, for he was never seen or 
heard of afterward. 

" In the course of the season in which Allen built his mills, 
he became acquainted with the daughter of a white man who was 
moving to Niagara. She was handsome, and Allen soon got into 
her good graces, so that he married and took her home, to be 
a joint partner with Sally, the squaw, whom she had never heard 

Lore 



100 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

of till she got home and found her in full possession ; but it was 
too late to retrace the hasty steps she had taken, for her father 
had left her in the care of a tender husband, and gone on. She, 
however, found that she enjoyed at least an equal half of her 
husband's affections, and made herself contented. Her father's 
name I have forgotten, but hers was Lucy. 

" Allen was not contented with two wives, for in a short time 
after he had married Lucy he came up to my house, where he 
found a young woman who had an old husband with her. They 
had been on a long journey, and called at my place to recruit 
and rest themselves. She filled Allen's eye, and he accordingly 
fixed upon a plan to get her into his possession. He praised his 
situation, enumerated his advantages, and finally persuaded them 
to go home and tarry with him a few days at least, and partake 
of a part of his comforts. They accepted his generous invita- 
tion, and went home with him. But they had been there but 
two or three days, when Allen took the old gentleman out to view 
his flats ; and as they were deliberately walking on the bank of 
the river pushed him into the water. The old man, almost 
strangled, succeeded in getting out; but his fall and exertions 
had so powerful an effect upon his system that he died in two 
or three days, and left his young widow to the protection of 
his murderer. She lived with him about one year in a state of 
concubinage, and then left him. 

" How long Allen lived at Allen's Creek I am unable to state ; 
but soon after the young widow left him, he removed to his old 
place at Mount Morris, and built a house, where he made Sally — 
his squaw, by whom he had two daughters — a slave to Lucy, by 
whom he had one son ; still, however, he considered Sally to be his 
wife. After Allen came to Mount Morris at that time, he mar- 
ried a girl by the name of Morilla Gregory, whose father, at 
the time, lived on Genesee Flats. The ceremony being over, he 
took her home to live in common with his other wives ; but his 
house was too small for his family — for Sally and Lucy, con- 
ceiving that their lawful privileges would be abridged if they 
received a partner, united their strength, and whipped poor 
Morilla so cruelly that Allen was obliged to keep her in a small 
Indian house, a short distance from his own, or lose her entirely. 
Morilla, before she left Mount Morris, had four children. 

" One of Morilla's sisters lived with Allen about a year after 
Morilla was married, and then quit him. 



MARY JE:.IIS0N 101 

" A short time after they had been living at Mount Morris, 
Allen prevailed upon the chiefs to give to his Indian children a 
tract of land two miles square, where he then resided. The 
chiefs gave tliem the land, but he so artfully contrived the con- 
veyance that he could apply it to his own use, and by alienating 
his right destroy the claim of his children. 

" Having secured the land in that way to himself, he sent 
his two Indian girls to Trenton, N. J., and his white son to 
Philadelphia, for the purpose of giving each of them a respect- 
able English education. 

" While his children were at school, he went to Philadelphia 
and sold his right to the land, which he had begged of the In- 
dians for his children, to Robert Morris. After that, he sent 
for his daughters to come home, which they did. 

" Having disposed of the whole of his property on the Genesee 
River, he took his two white wives and their children, together 
with his effects, and removed to Delaware Town, on the River De 
Trench, in Upper Canada.* When he left Mount Morris, Sally, 
his squaw, insisted upon going with him, and actually followed 
him, crying bitterly, and praying for his protection, some two 
or three miles, till he absolutely bade her leave him, or he would 
punish her with severity. At length, finding her case hopeless, 
she returned to the Indians. 

" At the great treaty in 1797, one of Allen's daughters 
claimed the Mount Morris tract which her father had sold to 
Robert Morris. The claim was examined, and decided against 
her, in favor of Morris's creditors. 

*' He died at the Delaware Town, on the River De Trench, 
in the year 1814 or 1815, and left two white widows and one 
squaw, with a number of children to lament his loss. 

" By his last will, he gave all his property to his last wife, 
Morilla, and her children, without providing in the least for the 
support of Lucy or any of the other members of his family. 
Lucy, soon after his death, went with her children down the 
Ohio River to receive assistance from her friends. 

" In the Revolutionary War, Allen was a Tory, and by that 



* Governor Simcoe granted him three thousand acres of land, upon condi- 
tion that he would build a sawmill, a grist-mill, and a church. All but the church 
to be his property. He performed his part of the contract, and the title to 
his land was confirmed. In a few years, he had his mills, a comfortable 
dwelling, large improvements, was a good liver, and those who knew him at 
that period represent him as hospitable and obliging. 



102 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

means became acquainted with our Indians, when they were in 
the neighborhood of his native place desolating the settlements 
on the Susquehanna. In those predatory battles he joined them, 
and for cruelty was not exceeded by his Indian comrades. 

" At one time, when he was scouting with the Indians, he 
entered a house very early in the morning, where he found a 
man, his wife, and one child, in bed. The man instantly sprang 
on the floor, for the purpose of defending himself and little 
family ; but Allen dispatched him at one blow. He then cut off 
his head, and threw it, bleeding, into the bed with the terrified 
woman ; took the little infant from its mother's breast, dashed 
its head against the jamb, and left the unhappy widow and 
mother to mourn alone over her murdered family. It has been 
said by some, that after he had killed the child he opened the 
fire and buried it under the coals and embers ; but of that I am 
not certain. I have often heard him speak of that transaction 
with a great degree of sorrow, and as the foulest crime he had 
ever committed — one for which I have no doubt he repented. 

" About the year 1806, or 1807, reverses began to overtake 
him. At one period he was arrested and tried for forgery ; at 
another, for passing counterfeit money ; at another, for larceny. 
He was acquitted of each offense upon trial. He was obnoxious 
to many of his white neighbors, and it is Hkely that at least two 
of the charges against him arose out of a combination that was 
promoted by personal enmity. All this brought on embar- 
rassments, which terminated in an almost entire loss of his large 
property. He died in 1814." — Turner's History of the 
Holland Purchase, pp. 302-3. 

In the year 1816, Micah Brooks, of Bloomfield, Ontario 
County, and his neighbor, Jellis Clute, began negotiations for 
the purchase of Mrs. Jemison's land; and on the 23d of April, 
1817, they bought the entire Gardeau Reservation from her for 
the sum of three thousand dollars, or about seventeen cents per 
acre. As the London Associates had paid Mr. Morris twenty- 
seven cents per acre for the unsold balance of the Phelps and 
Gorham lands more than a quarter of a century previous, and 
as Alexander Hamilton had loaned eighty cents per acre on 
one hundred thousand acres of the Morris Reserve nearly twenty 
years before the sale to Messrs. Brooks and Clute, it will be seen 
that the price agreed to be paid by them for Mrs. Jemison's 
land was not excessive. Perhaps further investigations into 




CORN PLANTER 



MARY JEMISON 103 

pioneer history may reveal to me some instance in which the 
Red Man got the better of the bargain. If so it shall not fail to 
be recorded. Although deed of the property was given to the 
purchasers, and placed upon the records of Genesee County, the 
sale was annulled, because of the fact that Mrs. Jemison's title 
was defective, she not being a natural bom or naturahzed citizen, 
and the consent of the chiefs of the Seneca Nation being neces- 
sary to a legal transfer. To surmount the first part of this 
difficulty, Messrs. Brooks and Clute procured the passage, on 
April 11, 1817, of a special act of the Legislature for the relief 
of Mary Jemison, which authorized her to take, hold, and convey 
real estate, by purchase, devise, or descent, in like manner as 
any naturalized citizen, and confirmed to her the grant of the 
Gardeau Reservation. The sale was not concluded until the 
lapse of about five years. She says : " After much delay and 
vexation in ascertaining what was necessary to be done to effect 
a legal transfer, and having consulted my children and friends, 
I agreed in the winter of 1822-23 with Messrs. Brooks and 
Clute that if they would get the chiefs of our nation and a United 
States Commissioner of Indian lands to meet in Moscow, Liv- 
ingston County, N. Y., I would sell to them all my right and 
title to the Gardeau Reservation, containing 17,927 acres, with 
the exception of a tract for my own benefit two miles long by one 
mile wide, where I should choose it, and also reserving a lot I had 
promised to give to Thomas Clute as a recompense for his faithful 
guardianship over me and my property for a long time. The ar- 
rangement was agreed to and the council assembled on the third 
day of September, 1823, at the place appointed. It consisted of 
Major Carroll, Judge Howell, and Nathaniel Gorham, acting 
for and in behalf of the United States ; Jasper Parrish, Indian 
agent; Horatio Jones, interpreter; and a large number of Sen- 
eca chiefs. The bargain was assented to unanimously, and a 
deed was executed and delivered by me and upward of twenty 
chiefs, conveying all my right and title to the Gardeau Reserva- 
tion except the reservations before mentioned, to Henry B. Gib- 
son, Micah Brooks, and Jellis Clute, their heirs and assigns for- 
ever. The tract I reserved for myself begins at the center of 
the Great Slide, thence west one mile, thence north two miles, 
thence east about a mile to the Genesee River, and thence south- 
erly, along the west bank of the river, to the place of beginning. 
In consideration, Messrs. Gibson, Brooks, and Clute — among 



104 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

other things — bound themselves, their heirs and assigns, to pay 
me, my heirs and successors, three hundred dollars a year for- 
ever." 

What the " other things " were that the purchasers bound 
themselves to do I have not been able to ascertain; but in the 
year 1830 she sold her remaining two square miles of land to 
Messrs. Gibson and Clute, and, commuting her annuity for a 
lump sum in ready money, removed to the Buffalo Creek reser- 
vation, where she purchased the Indian right of possession to a 
small piece of land on which she resided until her decease. In 
this, the last prominent incident in her career, she showed, as 
she had done a number of times in her earlier history, her thor- 
ough attachment to her adopted friends and their mode of life. 
The Senecas, in 1825, sold all their reservations on the Genesee 
River and removed with their families to the Tonawanda, Buffalo 
Creek, and Cattaraugus reservations, leaving Mrs. Jemison 
alone among the white people. This was more than she could 
endure, and she accordingly disposed of her remaining lands and 
joined her red brethren at Buffalo Creek. Misfortune attended 
her here. After paying for the land and cabin which she had 
purchased, the remaining proceeds of the sale of her Genesee 
lands — a sum barely sufScient to make her last days comfort- 
able — were entrusted to a white man who lost them in unfor- 
tunate speculations. She died in her own house on the 19th day 
of September, 1833, aged about ninety-one years. She was 
small in stature, had a very white skin, golden yellow hair, blue 
eyes, delicate hands and feet, and pleasing, regular features. 
She was, in fact, a handsome type of Irish blonde beauty. Her 
endurance was little short of marvelous. For seventy-five years 
she performed daily such tasks as fall to the lot of men em- 
ployed in agricultural labor. She planted, hoed, and husked 
her own com, fed and milked her own cows, and chopped her 
own firewood. She slept upon skins without any bedstead, sat 
upon the floor or on a bench without a back, and when she ate 
held her food on her lap or in her hands in Indian fashion. Her 
way of life was thoroughly that of the people with whom she 
lived for more than three-quarters of a century. 

The attempts that have been made to treat her as a heroine 
and model worthy of imitation are not well advised. She was in 
fact, a generous, plucky, little Irish peasant woman who loved 
a fight as dearly as any one of her countrymen who ever trailed 



MARY JEMISON 105 

his coat and flourished his shillelah at Donnybrook fair. When 
past her eightieth year, and telling for publication the story of 
her life, she extolled the good quahties of the red-handed fiend, 
her husband — Hiokatoo — and though admitting that his 
atrocities were unparalleled, there is no evidence that she ever 
tried to stay his hand. She aided, abetted, sheltered, and en- 
couraged the Bluebeard desperado, outlaw, and cutthroat of the 
Genesee — Indian Allen. Her fortitude and self-control were 
Indian traits, and good ones. She was a pagan until her ninety- 
first year. Her profession of Christianity after that date, when 
her faculties were dimmed by years, may be taken at any valua- 
tion the reader chooses to put upon it. The good missionary 
lady who visited her in her first and last illness, and tried to ad- 
minister to her the consolations of religion, says in her narra- 
tive ; " My visit evidently excited and wearied her, and she 
seemed quite exhausted, and toward the last quite sleepy; which 
warned me that I ought to bring it to a close." 

Mrs. Jemison's remains were buried in the graveyard of the 
Seneca Mission Church near Buffalo. Red Jacket was interred 
but a few feet from her tomb. It was not their last resting 
place. The famous sachem sleeps on the Cattaraugus Reserva- 
tion ;* and the White Woman sleeps on the banks of the Genesee. 

The following account of her removal and reinterment is taken 
from the Buffalo Courier of March 10, 1874 : 

MARY JEMISON. 

THE REMAINS OF THE " WHITE WOMAN OF THE GENESEE " 
REMOVED TO HER OLD HOME. 

The remains of Mary Jemison, or Deh-he-wa-mis, commonly 

known as the " White Woman of the Genesee," were taken up 

last week from the old Mission burying ground at Red Jacket, 

near Buffalo, where they had been buried about forty years ago, 

and conveyed to the neighborhood of her home and life-long 

associations on the Genesee River. The stone that had marked 

her grave had been nearly destroyed by remorseless relic hunters, 

by whom it had been broken and carried away piece by piece 

until but a small portion of it remained above the ground. It 

was feared by those interested in preserving whatever pertained 

to the history of this remarkable character that in a few years 

all trace of her resting place would be obliterated. 

* At a later date, the remains of Red Jacket were removed to Buffalo and 
interred in Forest Lawn Cemetery, where a stately shaft marks the spot. 



106 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

The removal of the remains took place under the direction 
of " Dr. James Shongo," a favorite grandson of the deceased, 
son of her daughter Polly by marriage with John Shongo. 
James was born under the " White Woman's " roof, and was a 
member of her family during his boyhood, and was present at 
her death and funeral. He also assisted in the removal of his 
grandmother to Buffalo, at the time she left the Gardeau Reser- 
vation, a few years prior to her death. 

The spot selected for the final resting place of her remains is 
a high eminence on the left bank of the Genesee River, overlook- 
ing the Upper and Middle Falls. The point is one commanding 
the finest views of the picturesque scenery of Portage — includ- 
ing both the Upper and Middle Falls and railroad bridge. 
Upon this eminence and quite near to her present grave is the 
ancient Seneca Council-house, removed a year or two since from 
Caneadea, within which it is believed Mary Jemison rested for 
the first time after her long and fatiguing journey of six hun- 
dred miles from Ohio, during which she carried her infant upon 
her back. The reinterment took place on Saturday afternoon 
in the presence of a large concourse of people, some of whom 
were old citizens from the Reservation which she once owned, 
who had known her during her life and held her memory in 
esteem. The remains were borne from Castile village to the old 
Council-house, within which appropriate exercises were conducted 
by Rev. W. D. McKinley of Castile. They consisted of the 
reading of selections from Scripture, a brief but very interesting 
reminiscence of the eventful life of the subject, and prayer. 
From the Council-house the remains were taken to the grave, a 
few feet northerly of the building. The following gentlemen 
officiated as pall-bearers : 

George Wheeler, D. W. Bishop, Giles Davis, Benjamin Bur- 
lingham, John Peter Kelly, Isaac McNair. 

Mary Jemison's former residence on the Gardeau Flats is but 
a few miles from the spot where her ashes now repose, and, stand- 
ing by her grave, the munnur of the Genesee may be heard 
as she heard it during nearly seventy years that she lived upon 
its banks. We are infoniied that the grounds about her grave 
are to be enclosed with an iron fence, and that it has already or 
soon will be conveyed by its present owner in perpetuity to the 
State of New York. It is also in contemplation to erect a suit- 
able memorial within the enclosure. 



JEMIMA WILKINSON. 

Imposture most securely lurks under the cloak of religion. Men are 
most apt to believe what they least understand. — Montaigne. 

JEMIMA WILKINSON, a preacher and prophet of the 
latter part of the eighteenth century, was bom in the 
State of Rhode Island in the year 1751. Her parents, 
Jeremiah and Amy Whipple Wilkinson, were of the cus- 
tomary poor but reputable class. Their family was large, consist- 
ing of six sons and an equal number of daughters, Jemima being 
the eighth child of the marriage. The father, though not a mem- 
ber of the Society of Friends, usually attended the meetings of 
that sect, of which his wife was a strict adherent. She was an 
amiable and intelligent person, a devoted wife and affectionate 
mother, whose life, while spared, was given up to the care and 
training of her large family. She died in giving birth to her 
twelfth child — the subject of this sketch being then eight years 
of age. The father never remarried, and his numerous offspring 
received but the simplest rudiments of education, and were taught 
such branches of labor and domestic economy as were common in 
New England farm houses in colonial times. By the time Miss 
Jemima had reached an age when she was expected to assist in 
household labor and duties she began to develop some of the 
peculiar traits of character which later in life made her so marked 
a personality. An unconquerable aversion to labor, an unusual 
cunning in shifting upon others the tasks assigned to her, an 
imperious will, and a strong propensity to dictate and rule, 
together with a love for idleness, finery, pomposity, and 
superiority were marked features of her character before 
she had reached her seventeenth year. Finding her unmanage- 
able at home, and yielding to her solicitations, her father per- 
mitted her to go to a neighboring town for the purpose of 
learning the trade of a tailor, and it would have been well in 
later years for many of her ruined dupes if she had made her- 
self mistress of that useful occupation, and remained a tailor 
instead of becoming a prophet. Steady employment was her 

107 



108 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

pet aversion, and after an apprenticeship of a few months she 
was dismissed and sent back to her father's house. 

Her hf e for the next few years was uneventful — her con- 
tempt for industry and fondness for dress, excitement, and 
pleasure being its chief features. About the year 1774 she 
attended a series of meetings held by a sect styling themselves 
New-Lights. They were fanatical zealots, who professed to 
live continually under the power and spirit of religion, and to 
be guided and illuminated directly from on high. Under their 
ministrations Jemima became serious, her airy gayety was ex- 
changed for sedateness and reflection, and she appeared to have 
received a strong impression as to the nature and necessity 
of religion. She discarded all other reading for the Bible, dis- 
continued her visits abroad, and after a time secluded 
herself altogether from company, confining herself to her 
own room and, after a time, to her bed. A physician called 
by her family was unable to locate or trace any symptoms of 
disease, she complained of no pain or distress, and told him 
plainly that she had no occasion for his services. He therefore 
gave it as his opinion to her friends that she was under some 
strong mental delusion, the removal of which could not be effected 
by medical treatment. She soon after confined herself alto- 
gether to her bed, became pale and wan, and began to speak of 
having visions from heaven and of seeing celestial forms hovering 
about her. Her family, believing her about to die, watched by her 
bedside both day and night for many weary weeks. At length 
this consummate actress played the last scene in the ghastly 
farce she had so long been enacting. She lay pale, motionless, 
and apparently lifeless during an entire afternoon and evening, 
but those who watched her closely saw that respiration was going 
on, though so softly as almost to defy detection. When the clock 
struck the hour of midnight she arose from the bed, declared that 
she had passed the gates of death, and was a new and immortal 
being, risen from the dead, and in a tone of voice consonant with 
her old imperious manner demanded her clothing, in which 
she arrayed herself and went forth apparently as well as ever, 
though pale and somewhat enfeebled by her long fasting and 
confinement. To her friends who congratulated her on her re- 
covery she promptly and vehemently denied that she was Jemima 
Wilkinson, and boldly asserted that she was a new being, reani- 
mated by the power and spirit of God, and commissioned from on 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 109 

high to save a lost and dying world. She alluded to her body 
as the tabernacle that had formerly been inhabited by Jemima, 
but proclaimed that it was now immortal — that she would live 
and reign on earth a thousand years, at the end of which time 
she would be taken up to heaven in a cloud of glory. Her first 
public address was delivered the Sabbath after she had risen from 
the dead, or bed, as the case may be. She attended public wor- 
ship at the Meeting House in the neighborhood, and, as she no 
doubt expected and wished, was an object of much curiosity to 
the assembly, many of whom had heard the tale of her death and 
resurrection. During the intermission between the morning 
and afternoon services she retired to the shade of a tree at some 
little distance from the church and was soon surrounded by the 
entire congregation. Here she delivered her first public address. 
Having for more than a year devoted her time to a study of the 
Bible and other religious books, she displayed a knowledge of 
the subject she was discussing which quite astonished her hearers, 
and led some of the more credulous among them to believe that 
her utterances were inspired, and from this class the nucleus of a 
sect was formed which for nearly half a century followed her 
footsteps, and were ruled and governed by her with an imperious 
and unquestioned sway. She formulated no creed, but announced 
herself as " The Universal Friend of Mankind, whom the mouth of 
the Lord hath named." She did not at first gather her followers 
about her and establish a church and society, but became for a 
time a sort of itinerant ; her inordinate vanity being fed by the at- 
tention she attracted wherever her meetings were held. During the 
first year of her ministry she visited and preached in Newport, 
Providence, New Bedford, and other to^vns in Rhode Island, Mas- 
sachusetts, and Connecticut. During her stay in Newport she 
attracted the attention of a number of British officers stationed 
there, to one of whom she became engaged to be married. 

It was a genuine affair of the heart on the part of both, and 
preparations were made for a honeymoon voyage to England, 
but military operations intei'vened to postpone the happy event, 
and a bullet encountered by her lover put an end to it. 
Jemima was greatly distressed, but with the almost supernatural 
command over her feelings which she possessed, she resumed her 
ministry, and thenceforward denounced matrimony as a sin 
and an abomination in the sight of the Lord, and prohibited it 
amongst her followers. About the j^ear 1781 she proposed to 



110 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

a number of her confidential advisers the desirability of a tour 
into the State of Pennsylvania, the object being to draw prose- 
lytes from the Quakers, who were numerous and wealthy in 
Philadelphia and its vicinity. She represented to her people that 
she had received a special mandate from heaven to visit these 
Friends, who were anxiously awaiting the coming of the Lord's 
messenger. A generous subscription was made by the faithful 
to defray the expenses of the journey, which she undertook in 
company with four or five of her most devoted followers. They 
traveled leisurely, and with as much comfort as the conditions 
of that period afforded. The story of her death, resurrection, 
divine mission, power to heal the sick and raise the dead had 
preceded her, and had lost nothing in the telling, and it is not 
surprising that her appearance in Philadelphia produced a con- 
siderable degree of sensation and curiosity, and that crowds 
followed her in the streets and flocked to hear her in 
such numbers that it was with difficulty that any place 
could be obtained of sufficient capacity to contain them. 
After a time, curiosity regarding her began to wane. No 
politician, however astute, could excel Jemima in detecting the 
advancing and receding waves of popular excitement, and when 
her audiences began to diminish she promptly had a vision from 
on high commanding her to return to her flock in Rhode Island. 
She remained with her New England followers until the summer 
of 1784, when she again took her departure for the State of 
Pennsylvania, locating this time in the town of Worcester, Mont- 
gomery County, where one of the wealthiest and most devoted 
of her adherents resided. This gentleman was an extensive 
landed proprietor, owning a number of large and fertile farms in 
the vicinity of his residence. Upon one of these Jemima and the 
retinue of personal disciples and attendants who composed her 
household took up their abode. Upon the premises were a com- 
modious stone dwelling, barns, carriage house, and stables, with 
all the stock and utensils usually belonging to a prosperous 
farmer. Of all this the Universal Friend took possession, as 
though she had been its owner in fee. Nor did her exactions 
stop here. Whatever else she coveted her infatuated adherent 
was weak enough to yield, until his estates became encumbered 
and ruin began to stare him in the face. " The Lord hath need 
of it," was her impious phrase in levying exactions upon this 
deluded man, and this command seemed to him a mandate from 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 111 

on high that could not be disregarded. A year or two of ease 
and comfort wxre passed by her on the farm of her disciple before 
symptoms of revolt and returning reason on Jiis part began to 
exhibit themselves. She was quick to detect the change and 
prompt in discovering what she believed to be the grounds for it. 
She rightly attributed the decline of her influence to the follow- 
ing causes : the increase of education, the circulation of news- 
papers, the general spread of useful knowledge, and the fact 
that in a thickly settled and intelligent community her dupes 
were likely to be influenced by their environments, and begin to 
question, while she wished them only to believe. To counteract 
these baleful influences she resolved to emigrate with her 
remaining followers to a new and unpopulated region, where 
intelligence and doubt could never come to arouse the minds and 
unsettle the faith of her disciples. She had heard glowing 
accounts of the Genesee Country, or, as she called it, the " Lake 
Country," then a continuous wilderness ; and thither she pro- 
posed to emigrate with her followers, believing in her narrow- 
mindedness that there she could live and reign a thousand years 
undisturbed by the meddlesome and caviling influences of civil- 
ization. The generation now inhabiting the Lake Country may 
be pardoned for irreverently regarding the gift of prophecy 
which consigned their fertile and beautiful region to a thousand 
years of ignorance and solitude. To raise funds for her emigra- 
tion scheme, Jemima made a third and — as it proved — a last 
visit to Rhode Island. During her absence in Pennsylvania 
many of her New England followers had become lukewarm, and 
collections for the scheme came in slowly. Those who had money 
to give were not at all enthusiastic about surrendering good 
homes and society, with all the pleasures aff"orded by a highly 
cultivated country, for a frontier life, with its privations, dan- 
gers, and vicissitudes, even though lands were cheap, and the 
country was described as a veritable New Jerusalem, where the 
wicked would cease from troubling and the weary be at rest. 
But where there is a will there is a way, though in this case it 
proved to be dishonest and dangerous. One of Jemima's female 
abettors was a resident in the family of the treasurer of the State 
of Rhode Island. " The Lord hath need of money," so these 
worthy teachers of religion and morality abstracted about two 
thousand dollars from the strong box of the State. 

The discovery of the robbery created great consternation 



112 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

among Jemima's followers, and she, fearing criminal prosecution 
as a participant in the theft, absconded in the night in company 
with three or four of her adherents and made the best of her 
way again to Worcester, Pa. Here she was followed by an 
officer, who arrived almost at the same time with herself. He 
boldly accused her of having the purloined money in her posses- 
sion, and demanded its restoration. With the utmost hardihood 
and composure Jemima denied all knowledge of the missing funds, 
and appealed to the great Searcher of Hearts to show her pur- 
suer the error of his accusation and the great wrong he was do- 
ing to an upright and holy person. The officer, feeling sure she 
had the money, was not to be thwarted by impious and hypo- 
critical appeals of any sort. He instituted an immediate and 
thorough search of the house, under such surveillance as would 
preclude any possibility of removing or concealing the money, 
and in one of Jemima's traveling trunks found eight hundred 
dollars of the missing funds. She denied all knowledge of the 
money thus found, said it had been put in her trunk by some 
person unknown to her, and without her privity or consent; 
that it was not hers, and she knew not to whom it belonged, and 
if he claimed it he was welcome to take it, which he did, and re- 
turned to Rhode Island without finding trace of the residue. 
The balance was made good by two or three wealthy persons 
whose relatives were implicated, and in order to shield them the 
aif air was allowed to drop. Jemima, however, " fearing every 
bush an officer," hastened her departure for the land of promise, 
where she arrived with a number of her followers in the month 
of April, 1789. Their route was overland to Wilkesbarre, and 
thence by the Susquehannah River to Elmira, then called New- 
town. Here this worthy saint and her vicegerent, one Sarah 
Richards, undertook to cheat the boatman who had brought them 
up the river out of a part of the stipulated sum agreed to be paid 
him ; and upon being threatened with prosecution endeavored to 
suborn two young men of their party to swear that they were to be 
allowed twenty dollars for assisting the boatman over rapids and 
places where the current was swift. In order to defraud the 
laborer of his hire, these young men were asked to commit per- 
jury, and were threatened with the dire displeasure of their 
saintly mistress if they refused to do so. In spite of threats 
and entreaties the young men declined to make oath to a false- 
hood, and the canting would-be swindlers were obliged to pay the 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 113 

boatman's honest demand. In a few days, Jemima found means 
to convey her followers and their goods and chattels to a tract 
of land near Crooked Lake, in the present county of Yates. To 
the new settlement she gave the name of Jerusalem, which is still 
the name of the town in that county in which it is located. Al- 
though expecting to live and reign in undisturbed solitude with 
her adherents, they had hardly provided themselves with shelter 
when they found that two enterprising New Englanders, Messrs. 
Phelps and Gorham, claimed to be owners of the land upon which 
they had settled. This was wholly unexpected by Jemima, who 
had relied upon wheedling the Indians out of the tract, and, by 
persuading them that she was an ambassadress from the Great 
Spirit, to secure such further portions of their domain as her 
grasping nature might covet. As she had collected nearly one 
hundred followers about her, and as Messrs. Phelps and Gorham 
were anxious to forward the settlement of the country, they made 
her a generous donation of land, and gave to her people such 
easy terms and prices as to satisfy all parties. 

Jemima, in her character of having put off the earthly and 
assumed the heavenly, could not be expected to deal in real estate, 
hence a deed of the tract which she had selected as her resting 
place during her mundane sojourn was taken in the name of her 
right-hand maiden and coadjutor, Sarah Richards. It was 
well selected as to location, having in general a southern and 
eastern exposure, was finely timbered, and was then, and is still, 
a most excellent quality of land for agricultural purposes. Her 
disciples purchased their lands in severalty — the common-stock 
project was abandoned, and contributions for the support of the 
Friend and the retinue of personal adherents and servants who 
composed her household were freely made by the faithful. They 
plowed, planted, and reaped her fields, supplied her with horses, 
cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals ; made contributions of 
money, labor, and goods, and seemed only too happy to neglect 
their own affairs to attend to those of the beloved Friend. As 
her domain contained about fourteen hundred acres, Jemima 
lived in greater ease and comfort than was common to the pio- 
neers a hundred years ago. Her household consisted of from 
fifteen to twenty persons. Of these only four were admitted to 
her personal intimacy: Sarah Richards and her daughter Eliza, 
and Rachel and Margaret Malin. The rest were only too 
happy to do her drudgery indoors and out for a mere subsist- 



114 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

ence, in order to be near the sacred person of the adored Friend. 
So far as her swaj over her followers was concerned, Jemima's 
anticipations in removing to the Lake Country were for a time 
realized. She ruled and governed them with a rod of iron, pun- 
ishing with the utmost severity any infractions of the discipline 
laid down for their guidance. Being thus secure in her power 
over her own people, she conceived the idea of converting the 
Indians — thinking that success would add greatly to her fame 
as a prophet, and that once established as their spiritual 
guide she would be able to inveigle them into making her grants 
of some of their valuable lands. To further this design she vis- 
ited Canandaigua at a time when the sachems, chiefs, and 
warriors of the Seneca Nation were assembled there in council, 
and while they were engaged in deep consultation burst in upon 
them without previous notice or introduction, and began a long 
and vehement address, which, though intended to be a prayer, 
turned out to be a sort of religious harangue or exhortation. 
Indian councils are always conducted with the utmost gravity, 
and the sachems were deeply offended at this interruption.* 
They showed their impatience by frowns, groans, and grimaces. 
When she ceased speaking she surveyed her audience attentively 
to discover what effect she had produced, and was much cha- 
grined to see them at once resume their deliberations without 
paying the least attention to her or her presence. She was not 
discouraged by this rebuff. Not long after this failure, an 
Indian treaty was held at Elmira which was attended by a depu- 
tation of Oneida chiefs. In passing through Seneca Lake they 
encamped for the Sabbath at Norris Landing, in the vicinity 
of Jemima's settlement. She embraced the opportunity of 
preaching to them, and in the course of her sermon endeavored 
to persuade them that she was Christ, their Saviour. They 
listened to her with their usual gravity and attention. When she 
had finished one of the chiefs arose and delivered a short and 
animated address in his own tongue. When he had concluded 
Jemima sought the interpreter who was with the Oneidas, and 
asked him to explain what the speaker had said. Her wish being 
made known to the chief who had spoken, he at once promptly 
replied that she was an impostor, for if she were Jesus Christ 
she would know what a poor Indian said without being told. He 

* The Indians are good listeners. They consider it the height of rudeness to 
interrupt anyone who is speaking. 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 115 

and his party contemptuously turned away and took no further 
notice of her. To be treated with contempt by savages before 
her own people was so galling to Jemima's pride that she thence- 
forward abandoned all attempts upon their morals and lands. 

Although pretending to devote her life wholly to spiritual 
concerns, she was inordinately avaricious and grasping, and was 
constantly inventing plans to secure by gift, devise, or grant the 
property of her deluded disciples. In the accomplishment of her 
purposes she knew no law but her own imperious will, and did 
not hesitate to alter and amend wills, and other legal instruments 
which came into her possession, in order to obtain property to 
which she had no right. Her ignorance, stubbornness, and dis- 
honesty kept her involved a greater part of the time during the 
last twenty years of her life in a variety of law suits which, 
though not prosecuted or defended in her name, were in reality 
litigated in her sole interest. Forgetting the adage about hav- 
ing a fool for a client, she procured and studied legal works 
from which she probably derived more litigation than law. 
She did not hesitate for a moment to tell her disciples what she ex- 
pected them to swear to, asserting that they must know that the 
facts were as the Friend stated them, that they had the word of 
the Lord for their truth, and that they need not fear man who, 
at the worst, could only kill the body, while the Lord could kill 
the soul. These facts became so notorious that her opponents 
would submit to nonsuit rather than try a case upon which one 
of her people sat as a juror, and in a number of instances de- 
cisions were given against her in the teeth of the most positive 
evidence on the part of her deluded dupes. The arrest and con- 
viction of one of them for perjury put a stop for a time to her mill 
for grinding out testimony to order. Being reluctant to employ 
professional men to attend to her legal matters, and relying upon 
the little learning which is so dangerous, she in a number of in- 
stances was obliged to surrender property which the devisor fully 
intended to convey to the society. In one instance a large and valu- 
able tract of land devised to the " Universal Friend's Society " re- 
verted to the giver's heirs, because the " Society," not being a 
body politic or corporate, was incapable of accepting the gift. 

Having examined a few of the worldly points of Jemima's 
character, let us glance briefly at her spiritual traits, with a 
view to ascertaining whether she was altogether lovely in her 
assumed role of priest and prophet. As has been stated, 



116 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

she claimed to have arisen from the dead, to have put off the 
mortal and put on immortality, and to be endued directly with 
wisdom and power from on high. This, she asserted, rendered 
her capable of reading the hearts and secret thoughts of man- 
kind, and of performing all miracles mentioned in the Bible. 
If a scrutiny of her spiritual methods shall reveal her as an 
impious fraud and sham, not unwilling to commit crime in order 
to establish her character as a foreteller of events and miracle 
worker, the fault is hers alone. Firstly, she had accomplices. 
Some of these resided in her household and formed what may be 
termed her cabinet council. Others remained in Rhode Island 
and Pennsj^lvania to look after and watch over her flock in those 
States. With these she kept up a close and voluminous corre- 
spondence, requring them to report to her fully whatever was 
said, done, or contemplated by the faithful. In this way not 
only their acts but their thoughts and desires were communi- 
cated to Jemima, and when they joined her in the Lake Country 
it was as easy as lying for her to tell them what they had been 
saying and doing, and what they had been wishing and thinking 
as well. Ignorant, unsuspecting, and credulous, they attrib- 
uted miraculous power and divination to the person who simply 
repeated to them what had been reported by her accomplices. 
Similar means were resorted to with the followers by whom she 
was surrounded, her cabinet council being very clever in 
searching out and reporting the wishes, desires, and thoughts 
of these deluded people, who were awestruck to hear the 
Beloved Friend announce to them simply what they had told her 
accomplices. 

As to her ability to heal the sick, this was on a par with 
her mind-reading. When necessary, cases of extreme and ap- 
parently mortal illness were made to order, some one of the 
cabinet council or a devoted follower residing in her household 
enacting the role of invalid. Tales of healing that were past 
mortal aid were vouched for by her accomplices, and readily be- 
lieved by the rest of her community. In visiting any of her 
flock who were really ill, she was careful to note their condition 
and apply her miraculous power of healing only to such young 
and vigorous persons as were already well advanced toward 
convalescence. With such she prayed fervently, and laying her 
hands upon them promised them a restoration to health. In 
nine cases out of ten the promise was fulfilled, and the Divinely 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 117 

empowered Friend was given credit for performing a miraculous 
cure. 

Her attempts to raise the dead were, of course, fraudulent. 
The first was made before she left Rhode Island. The ghastly 
farce began with the illness and sudden demise of one of her 
most devoted and best-beloved adherents. The coffin containing 
the remains of the deceased was placed in a room where a num- 
ber of the faithful were congregated. There were also present 
two or three outsiders, among them a military officer who was 
disposed to question Jemima's ability to restore the dead to life. 
After a long prayer in which she earnestly besought power from 
on high to reanimate the departed, she approached the coffin and 
was about to command the dead to come forth, when the officer 
called a halt. He said, " In order that there may be no mistake 
as to the restoration, I wish to be sure that the person lying en- 
shrouded here is dead, and will run my sword through the body 
previous to its being reanimated." The presumed cadaver gave 
a shriek, and in anything but sepulchral language protested 
against the soldier and his weapon. A second attempt of this 
kind was arranged to be performed in the Lake Country, but the 
young woman who was to sicken, die, and be raised, after being 
coached by Jemima for a number of weeks, became frightened 
at the shocking and ghastly part she was required to enact, and 
positively declined all further participation in the impious fraud. 
She had been shown by an associate to whom she entrusted the 
secret the infamous nature of the imposture to which she was 
a party, and was persuaded that it would not be improbable that 
her Maker, offended at such horrible profanation, should strike 
her dead the moment her pretended decease was announced. 

Jemima was now in a quandry. She had long been meditating 
this project, and in preparing for carrying it out had per- 
mitted no one to attend upon the patient but herself, and was 
beside herself with vexation at the prospect of the miscarriage 
of a scheme that was to establish on a firm basis her God-given 
power to raise the dead. But threats, entreaties, and persua- 
sion were powerless to induce her patient to continue the fraud. 
Jemima, notwithstanding, managed to turn the affair to consid- 
erable purpose. She extorted from the young woman a promise 
of absolute secrecy, and induced her to consent to be raised from 
a bed of mortal illness to perfect health. The faithful were ac- 
cordingly assembled to witness the farce. Jemima exhorted and 



118 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

prayed with more than usual fervor, ending with a petition that 
the dearly beloved and dying sister might be made whole. The 
door of the sick room was then thrown open, disclosing a small 
table on which were three lighted candles. Between this table 
and the bed the miracle-worker stood, surrounded by her cabinet 
council of confederates, who pretty effectually shut out from the 
audience all view of the proceedings. Taking her patient by 
the hands she commanded her to arise, and of course was easily 
obeyed. To a question asked by her healer she replied in a 
distinct and strong voice, convincing the assembly that she was 
as well as ever. Jemima then gave thanks for the restoration of 
this dearly beloved lamb of the flock, gave those assembled her 
blessing, and dismissed them, thoroughly convinced, and ready 
to positively affirm, that they had witnessed a most wonderful 
miracle. The young woman upon whom it was performed be- 
came so shocked, terrified, and disgusted with the blasphemous 
frauds and shams by whom she was surrounded that she took 
an early opportunity to abandon the society and denounce the 
deception in which she had participated. This availed nothing 
so far as the Friend's fanatical dupes were concerned, apostacy 
being powerless to shake their faith in their divinely empowered 
idol. Before leaving Rhode Island she had attempted the feat 
of walking on the water. The brethren and sisterhood of the 
fraternity and a large assembly of " the world," as she desig- 
nated everyone outside of her flock, had gathered to witness the 
performance. As usual, she entertained her hearers with a 
long exhortation ; this time upon the importance of faith ; and 
endeavored to persuade them that if she failed to do what they 
had assembled to witness, it would be owing to their unbelief ; and 
cited the case of Peter, who had walked on the water until his 
own and his brethren's faith departed from them, when he began 
to sink, but was saved by the outstretched arm of the Master, 
who cried, " O thou of little faith : wherefore didst thou doubt? " 
At the conclusion of her harangue she approached the 
margin of the river, but the unstable water refused to sustain 
her hallowed person. Turning upon the spectators she up- 
braided and reproved them for their lack of faith, denounced 
them as an evil generation who were seeking a sign, but unto 
whom no sign should be given, and dismissed them, very much 
humiliated and ashamed (her adherents at least) of having been 
the cause of the failure of her aquatic miracle. Her historian 




JEMIMA WILKINSON 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 119 

asks to be excused for dropping into slang and asserting that 
Miss Wilkinson had a gall. 

A similar experiment undertaken in " The Lake Country " had 
a better issue. Only her flock were apprised of the attempt, and 
as they were posted on a hill more than a quarter of a mile from 
the water, they were unable to detect a staging two or three 
inches beneath the surface upon which their Messiah 
trod. By such frauds as have been recounted the Universal 
Friend of Mankind sought to convince an unbelieving world of 
the sanctity of her person and the divinity of her mission. It 
is doubtful whether these pretended miracles added half a dozen 
to the number of her followers. Those who withheld their be- 
lief were denounced as the children of wrath, who were on the 
broad road to perdition. 

Jemima's prohibition and denunciation of matrimony was an 
afterthought. In the early part of her ministry she was a 
skillful matchmaker, and succeeded in providing husbands for a 
number of her community who had anticipated wedlock by be- 
coming mothers before they were wives. After the unfortunate 
termination of her own early love affair she pretended to have 
received new light upon the subject of marriage, and believing 
it to be inconsistent with the character she had assumed, she de- 
nounced it as a sin and an abomination in the sight of the Lord, 
which would consign anyone committing it to eternal perdition. 
She was too shortsighted to discover that even if she succeeded 
in setting at naught the laws of nature and restraining the 
strongest of human passions she would inevitably have decreed 
the dissolution of her societ3\ She denied that marriage was an 
institution sanctified by the divine authority, and cited as many 
texts in support of her theory as her successor, Joseph Smith, 
Jr., could quote in behalf of his. It is certain that no end of 
misery resulted from the teachings of these two persons, who 
would have us believe they were inspired from on high, the one 
to preach celibacy and the other polygamy. 

In cases where husband and wife became members of Jemima's 
community she laid down the law of non-intercourse, but it was 
not always strictly observed. Some time after the promulga- 
tion of her family interdict a Mrs. W — , who with her husband 
were influential and prominent members of her community, gave 
birth to a fine, healthy boy. Jemima was highly incensed, as 
the compliance of this couple with all the requirements of her 



120 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

religious system was of the utmost importance in its bearing upon 
the obedience of her other followers. As soon as the mother's 
health was re-established Jemima paid the husband and wife a 
visit, and denounced in vigorous terms their criminal departure 
from duty, told them they had committed a heinous sin, and that 
only by sincere repentance and future obedience could they atone 
in the sight of the Lord for the crime of which they had been 
guilty, and in order that a remembrance of their offense might be 
constantly before them she named the child Lamentation. The 
poor mother protested, but the father acquiesced, and the child 
was so christened. This, however, did not prevent the birth about 
three years later of a fine girl. Armed with all the terrors of 
her wrath and indignation Jemima again visited these perse- 
vering offenders, and delivered a stormy denunciation of their 
continued disobedience. She became violent and abusive, and 
ended by declaring that the child should be called Abomination. 
The good mother's heart rebelled at this second attempt to stig- 
matize her innocent babe, and she gave vent to her feelings by 
ordering Jemima to leave the house. The latter, finding she 
had gone too far, endeavored to recall the most galling of her 
words, and bring matters to an amicable understanding, but the 
indignant mother was more than willing to come to an open rup- 
ture and plainly told the Friend she was actuated by spleen, envy, 
and malevolence in her endeavors to destroy the happiness of 
married people, and that her hostility to matrimony arose from 
her own misconduct in early life, when she bore an illegitimate 
child to her lover, the British officer, and that notwithstanding 
all her present pretensions to purity she was no better than she 
should be regarding her acquaintance with men, and peremp- 
torily ordered her to go about her business and never show her 
detested face in their house again. The husband on this occasion 
sustained his resolute helpmeet, and as he had been generous in 
contributing when " the Lord had need," and had often been 
held up by Jemima as an example of piety and liberality, she 
smothered her resentment, not daring to denounce vengeance 
against him, or persevere in her attempts to regulate his do- 
mestic affairs. But this was an almost solitary instance on her 
part of a relaxation of the laws laid down for the government 
of her flock. As a rule, her will was theirs, she never conde- 
scended to explain the reasons for actions nor would she permit 
others to do so. It was her prerogative to give orders and 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 121 

directions and theirs to obey — which they usually did without 
a murmur, as they believed the Friend to be more than mortal, 
and invested with Divine authority, power, and wisdom. 

To sustain the character of a prophet, which she had assumed, 
she was — if a contemporary writer in the Pittsburg Mercury 
is to be believed — not incapable of committing heinous crimes. 
Dating from Philadelphia, 1819, he says: "Our next door 
neighbor, Mrs. Sarah M — , became one of her proselytes, and 
when Jemima took her departure from our city this infatuated 
lady forsook her husband and children and accompanied the 
Friend to her new settlement. She had not been very long ab- 
sent from her family before she returned, heartily disgusted 
with the impostor whom she had followed. Some trouble having 
arisen between them, Jemima, when her adlierents were gathered 
in chapel, rose from her seat after a long silence, and addressing 
Mrs. M — , proclaimed in a loud voice, * Sarah ! Sarah ! ! 
Sarah ! ! ! I have a message from God unto thee ! This night 
will thy soul be required of thee ! ' She then sat down. Not 
another word was uttered, but an indescribable terror seized 
upon the minds of all present, they having implicit faith in 
Jemima as a prophetess. The assembly dispersed and the vic- 
tim of the denunciation went with a palpitating heart to her bed- 
chamber. A remarkable providence intervened to save her. 
The house was crowded, and unknown to Jemima a domestic 
female servant was obliged to occupy a part of Mrs. M — 's bed. 
The girl, in consequence of having a heavy ironing to do in the 
evening, did not retire until near midnight. Twice previous to 
that hour Jemima dressed in white, with a veil over her head, and 
holding a lighted candle in each hand had entered the room, 
passed close to the bed, looked at Mrs. M — , and retired with- 
out uttering a word. Before the hour of 12 the girl came in and 
Mrs. M — , moving to the back of the bed, gave the tired servant 
her place. The girl was soon asleep. Not so her companion. 
Soon the door opened again. This time all was darkness, and 
]\Irs. M — could not see the object which entered, but heard it 
approaching the bed. On a sudden the girl began a desperate 
struggle with an unseen foe. Mrs. M — screamed and gave the 
alarm, shouting robbers ! murderers ! ! and a person fled precipi- 
tately from the room. On being interrogated as to the cause of 
her struggle the girl replied that some one had her by the throat 
and was trying to strangle her. It need hardly be said that 



122 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Mrs. M — left the house early next morning, giving the prophet- 
ess no further opportunity to fulfill her own prediction." 

During the first twenty years of her residence in the Genesee 
Country Jemima led a tolerably active life, taking carriage ex- 
ercise in fine weather, and visiting, from time to time, the mem- 
bers of her community; but as age crept on she grew stout and 
lethargic, and during the last ten years of her life she confined 
herself to her house, and mainly to her own room, seldom crossing 
its threshold even when preaching to her people. This sedentary 
existence impaired her health, but as she claimed to have put off 
the mortal, and as her adherents thoroughly believed she would 
never again taste death, but little attention was paid to her ail- 
ments and evidently declining strength. It would have been 
inconsistent with the character she had assumed to have called 
a physician, and she endured during the last year or two of her 
life all the suffering incident to a dreadful complaint — the 
dropsy — with a fortitude and uncomplaining composure which 
half redeem the many other faults of her character. She 
seemed more anxious to perpetuate a belief in her divinity than 
to prolong or render comfortable her existence. And this she 
succeeded in doing. It would have been easier to persuade her 
infatuated flock that the great globe itself w^as about to dissolve 
than that the life of their divine Idol was drawing to a close. 
When asked, as they often were, " How does the Friend? " they 
admitted that " the tabernacle which she inhabited " was frail 
and disordered, but denied that her life was endangered, and be- 
came angry and impatient whenever the possibility of her decease 
was mentioned. 

But Jemima knew well that the supreme hour was approach- 
ing. The day preceding her death she said to those about her 
that she " must soon leave them." Towards evening she began 
to sink rapidly, and again said, " My friends, I must soon de- 
part. I am going — this night I leave ye." She passed away 
on the morning of Thursday, July 1, 1819, in the sixty-eighth 
year of her age. A few of the more intelligent of her adherents 
admitted the " departure of the Friend," but the majority of 
them could not, and did not, believe that she was dead, but zeal- 
ously declared that she would live to see all the wicked cut off 
from the earth. Those living at a distance, upon hearing the 
report of her decease, started at once to visit the " Beloved " and 
inform her of the false rumor that the unregenerate had 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 123 

spread abroad concerning her. Confronted with the dread re- 
ality, they seemed lost in a maze of astonishment, doubt, and 
fear. Her cabinet council — knowing that it was necessary in 
order to perpetuate the system established by their mistress — 
to allay the doubts of their fellow worshipers, informed them 
that the departure of the beloved Friend was but temporary, 
that she would reappear and secure their eternal happiness 
provided they continued firm in the faith unto the end. Be- 
lieving she would rise again, her remains were kept until the 
evening of the fourth day after her " departure," and were then 
taken away by her household council, and no man knoweth the 
place of her sepulchre unto this day. There was no funeral and 
no burial, and those of her neighbors not members of her flock, 
who came to pay the last tribute of their respect, were received 
with gloomy silence except when questions were asked, and these 
were answered in a manner which showed they were considered 
inquisitive and offensive. 

I shall attempt no summary of the character of the remarkable 
woman whose career has been so summarily recounted, but will 
quote a contemporary sketch by the Duke de la Rochefoucauld 
Liancourt, who traveled extensively in this country a hundred 
years ago. He says : 

" We saw Jemima and attended her meeting, which is held in 
her own house. We found there about thirty persons, men, 
women, and children. Jemima stood at the door of her bed- 
chamber, on a carpet, with an arm chair behind her. She had 
on a white morning gown and waistcoat, such as men wear, and a 
petticoat of the same color. Her black hair was cut short, care- 
fully combed, and divided behind into three ringlets ; she wore a 
stock and white silk cravat, which was tied about her neck with 
affected negligence. In point of delivery she preached with more 
ease than any other Quaker I have yet heard; but the sub- 
ject matter of her discourse was an eternal repetition of the same 
topics — death, sin, and repentance. She is said to be about 
forty years of age, but she did not appear to be more than thirty. 
She is of a middle stature, well made, of florid countenance, and 
has fine teeth, and beautiful eyes. Her action is studied ; she 
aims at simplicity, but is somewhat pedantic in her manner. 
In her chamber we found her friend, Rachel Malin, a young 
woman about twenty-eight or thirty years of age, her follower 
and admirer, who is entirely devoted to her. All the land which 



124 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Jemima possesses is purchased in the name of Rachel Mahn, 
an advantage she owes to her influence over her adherents, and 
to her dexterity in captivating their affections. Jemima, or 
the Friend, as she is called by way of eminence, inculcates, as 
her leading tenet, poverty and resignation of all earthly pos- 
sessions. If you talk to her of her house, she always calls it 
' the house which I inhabit.' This house, however, though 
built only of the trunks of trees, is extremely pretty and com- 
modious. Her room is exquisitely neat, and resembles more 
the boudoir of a fine lady than the cell of a nun. It contains a 
looking glass, a clock, and an armchair, a good bed, a warming 
pan, and a silver saucer. Her garden is kept in good order ; 
her spring house is full of milk, cheese, butter, butcher's meat, 
and game. Her hypocrisy may be traced in all her discourses, 
actions, and conduct, and even in the very manner in which she 
manages her countenance. She seldom speaks without quoting 
the Bible, or introducing a serious sentence about death, and the 
necessity of making our peace with God. Whatever does not be- 
long to her own sect is with her an object of distaste and steadfast 
aversion. She sows dissensions in families, to deprive the law- 
ful heir of his right of inheritance, in order to appropriate it to 
herself; and all this she does under the name and agency of her 
companion, who receives all presents brought by the faithful, and 
preserves them for her reverend friend, who, being wholly ab- 
sorbed in her communion with Christ, whose prophetess she is, 
would absolutely forget the supply of her bodily wants if she 
were not well taken care of. The number of her votaries has, 
of late, much decreased. Many of the families who followed 
her to Jerusalem are no longer the dupes of her self-interested 
policy. Some still keep up the outward appearance of at- 
tachment to her; while others have openly disclaimed their con- 
nection with Jemima. Such, however, as still continue her ad- 
herents appear to be entirely devoted to her. With these she 
passes for a prophetess, an indescribable being; she is not 
Jemima Wilkinson, but a spirit of a peculiar name, which re- 
mains a profound secret to all who are not true believers ; she 
is the Friend, the All-Friend. Six or seven girls of different ages, 
but all young and handsome, wait upon her with surprising 
emulation, to enjoy the peculiar satisfaction of being permitted 
to approach this celestial being. Her fields and her garden are 
plowed and dug by the Friends, who neglect their own business 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 125 

to take care of hers ; and the All-Friend is so condescending as 
not to refuse their services ; she comforts them with a kind word 
now and then, makes inquiries after, and provides for, their 
health and welfare, and has the art of effectually captivating 
their affections, the more, perhaps, because she knows how to keep 
her votaries at a respectful distance. When the service was 
over, Jemima invited us to dinner. The hope of watching her 
more narrowly induced us to accept the invitation ; but we did not 
then know that it forms a part of the character she acts never 
to eat with anyone. She soon left us ; and locking herself up 
with her female friend, sat down without other company to an 
excellent dinner; we did not get ours till after she had dined. 
When our dinner was over, and also another, which was served 
up after ours, the sanctuary was opened again. And now Jemima 
appeared once more at the door of her room, and conversed with 
us seated in an arm chair. When strangers are with her, she 
never comes over the threshold of her bedroom ; and when by her- 
self, she is constantly engaged in deliberation how to improve the 
demesne of her friend. The house was, this day, very full. 
Our company consisted of exactly ten persons ; after us, dined 
another company of the same number; and as many more dined 
in the kitchen. Our plates, as well as the table linen, were per- 
fectly clean and neat ; our repast, although frugal, was yet bet- 
ter in quality than any of which we had partaken since we had left 
Philadelphia ; it consisted of good fresh meat, with pudding, an 
excellent salad, and a beverage of peculiar, yet charming, flavor, 
with which we were plentifully supplied out of Jemima's apart- 
ment, where it was prepared. The devout guests observed, all 
this while, a profound silence; they either cast down their eyes 
or lifted them up to heaven with a rapturous sigh ; to me they 
appeared not unlike a party of the faithful, in the primitive 
ages, dining in a church. The All-Friend had by this time ex- 
changed her former dress for that of a fine Indian lady, which 
however, was cut out in the same fashion as the former. Her 
hair and eyebrows had again been combed. She did not utter 
a syllable respecting our dinner; nor did she offer to make any 
apology for her absence. Constantly engaged in personating 
the part she had assumed, she descanted in a sanctimonious, 
mystic tone, on death, and on the happiness of having been an 
useful instrument to others in the way of their salvation. She 
afterwards gave us a rhapsody of prophecies to read, ascribed 



126 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

to one Dr. Love, who was beheaded in Cromwell's time ; wherein 
she clearly discerned, according to her accounts, the French 
Revolution, the decline and downfall of popery, and the impend- 
ing end of the world. Finding, however, that this conversation 
was but ill adapted to engage our attention she cut short her har- 
angue at once. 

" We had, indeed, already seen more than enough to estimate 
the character of this bad actress, whose pretended sanctity only 
inspired us with contempt and disgust, and who is altogether 
incapable of imposing upon any person of common understand- 
ing, unless those of the most simple minds, or downright en- 
thusiasts. Her speeches are so strongly contradicted by the 
tenor of her actions ; her whole conduct ; her expense compared 
to that of other families within a circumference of fifty miles ; 
her way of living, and her dress, form such a striking contrast 
with her harangues on the subject of condemning earthly en- 
joyments ; and the extreme assiduity with which she is contin- 
ually endeavoring to induce children, over whom she has any 
influence, to leave their parents and form a part of her com- 
munity ; all those particulars so strongly militate against the 
doctrine of peace and universal love, which she is incessantly 
preaching, that we were all actually struck with abhorrence at 
her duplicity and hypocrisy, as soon as the first emotions of our 
curiosity subsided. Her fraudulent conduct, indeed, has been 
discovered by so many persons, and so much has been said 
against it, that it is difiicult to account for her having any ad- 
herents at all, even for a short time. And yet she will probably 
retain a sufficient number to increase still further a fortune 
which is already considerable for the country in which she re- 
sides, and fully adequate to the only end which she now seems 
anxious to attain — namely, to live independent, in a decent, plen- 
tiful, and even elegant manner. There are so many weak-minded 
religionists, and Jemima is so particularly careful to select her 
disciples among persons who are either very old or very young, 
that her imposture, however gross and palpable to the discern- 
ing, may yet be carried on for some time with success suf- 
ficient to answer her ultimate purpose. If her credit should sink 
too low, she would find herself constrained to transplant her 
holiness to some other region ; and, in fact, she had last year 
harbored the design of removing her family and establishment, 
and of settling on Carlton Island, in the Lake of Ontario, where 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 127 

she would enjoy the satisfaction of living under the English 
Government, which, by her account, has offered her a grant of 
land." 

If comment were in order it might be said that deference 
to the sex and the universal law which forbids criticism of ac- 
cepted hospitality should have softened the duke's account of 
his visit to the Friend, though it must be admitted that if he 
was to publish his impressions at all they should have been his 
real ones, unvarnished by sentiment of any kind. 

Another contemporary account, taken from manuscript left 
by the late Thomas Morris, is submitted as corroborative of 
what has preceded. He certainly was not a man whose inclina- 
tions would lead him to " set down aught in malice " against any 
one. He says : 

" Prior to my having settled at Canandaigua, Jemima 
Wilkinson and her followers had established themselves on a 
tract of land, purchased by them, and called the Friend's set- 
tlement. Her disciples were a very orderly, sober, industrious, 
and, some of them, a well-educated and intelligent set of people ; 
and many of them possessed of handsome properties. She called 
herself the Universal Friend, and would not permit herself to be 
designated by any other appellation. She pretended to have 
had revelations from heaven, in which she had been directed to 
devote her labors to the conversion of sinners. Her disciples 
placed the most unbounded confidence in her and yielded in all 
things the most implicit obedience to her mandates. She would 
punish those among them who were guilty of the slightest devi- 
ation from her orders ; in some instances, she would order the 
offending culprit to wear a cow bell round his neck for weeks, 
or months, according to the nature of the offense, and in no 
instance was she known to have been disobeyed. For some of- 
fense, committed by one of her people, she banished him to 
Nova Scotia, for three years, where he went, and from whence 
he returned only after the expiration of his sentence. When 
any of her people killed a calf or sheep, or purchased an article 
of dress, the Friend was asked what portion of it she would have, 
and the answer would sometimes be, that the Lord hath need of 
the one-half, and sometimes, that the Lord hath need of the 
whole. Her house, her grounds, and her farms, were kept in 
the neatest order by her followers, who, of course, labored for 
her without compensation. She was attended by two young 



128 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

women, always neatly dressed. Those who acted in that ca- 
pacity, and enjoyed the most of her favored confidence, at the 
time I was there, were named Sarah Richards and Rachel Malin. 
Jemima prohibited her followers from marrying ; and even those 
who had joined her after having been united in wedlock were made 
to separate and live apart from each other. This was attributed 
to her desire to inherit the property of those who died. 

" Having discovered that bequests to the Universal Friend 
would be invalid, and not recognizing the name of Jemima 
Wilkinson, she caused devises to be made by the dying to Sarah 
Richards, in the first instance. Sarah Richards, however, died, 
and her heir-at-law claimed the property thus bequeathed ; litiga- 
tion ensued, and after the controversy had gone from court to 
court, it was finally decided in Jemima's favor, it appearing that 
Sarah Richards had held the property in trust for her. After 
the death of Sarah Richards, devises were made in favor of 
Rachel Malin; but Rachel took it into her head to marry, and 
her husband claimed, in behalf of his wife, the property thus 
devised to her. Among Jemima's followers was an artful, cun- 
ning, and intelligent man, by the name of Elijah Parker; she 
dubbed him a prophet, and called him the Prophet Elijah. He 
would, before prophesying, wear around the lower part of his 
waist, a bandage or girdle, tied very tight, and when it had 
caused the upper part of his stomach to swell, he would pretend 
to be filled with the prophetic visions which he would impart to 
the community. But after some time, Jemima and her Prophet 
quarreled, and he then denounced her as an impostor, declared 
that she had imposed on his credulity, and that he had never been 
a prophet. After having divested himself of his prophetic 
character he became a justice of the peace, and in that capacity 
issued a warrant against Jemima, charging her with blasphemy. 
She was accordingly brought to Canandaigua, by virtue of this 
warrant, and at a circuit court held there in 1796, by the late 
Governor Lewis, judge of the Supreme Court of the State, 
a bill of indictment, prepared by Judge Howell, of Canandaigua, 
then district attorney, was laid before the grand jury. Judge 
Lewis having told the grand jury, that by the laws and con- 
stitution of this State blasphemy was not an indictable offense, 
no bill was found. Judge Howell has informed me that a similar 
question having been brought before a full bench of the Supreme 
Court, that Judge Lewis' opinion was overruled by all the other 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 129 

judges, and that blasphemy was decided to be an Indictable of- 
fense. These litigations, however, had considerably lessened the 
number of her followers, but she, as I am informed, retained until 
her death her influence over a considerable portion of them. 

" Prior to these occurrences, Jemima had been attacked with 
a violent disease, and she expected to die. Under this conviction, 
she caused her disciples to be assembled in her sick chamber, 
when she told them that her Heavenly Father, finding that the 
wickedness of the world was so great that there was no pros- 
pect of her succeeding in reclaiming it, had determined that she 
should soon quit it, and rejoin Him In heaven. Having unex- 
pectedly recovered, she again assembled them, when she an- 
nounced to them that her Heavenly Father had again commanded 
her to remain on earth and make one more trial. 

" When I first saw Jemima, she was a fine looking woman, 
of good height ; and, though not corpulent, inclined to embon- 
point. Her hair was jet black, short, curled on her shoulders ; 
she had fine eyes and good teeth and complexion. Her dress con- 
sisted of a silk purple robe, open in front ; her underdress was of 
the finest white cambric or muslin. Round her throat she wore 
a large cravat, brodered with fine lace. She was very ignorant, 
but possessed an uncommon memory ; though she could neither 
read nor write, it was said that she knew the Bible by heart, 
from its having been read to her. The sermon I heard her 
preach was bad in point of language, and almost unintelligible ; 
aware of her deficiencies In this respect, she caused one of her 
followers to tell me, that in her discourses she did not aim at 
expressing herself in fine language, preferring to adapt her 
style to the capacity of the most Illiterate of her hearers." 

I am inclined to think Mr. Morris mistaken as to Jemima's 
inability to read. The evidence is almost conclusive that she 
had not only read the Bible and other religious works but law 
books as well. That she did not wield the pen of a ready writer 
is evidenced by the fact that her X mark was affixed to her last 
will and testament. 

In the year 1750, a contemporary of Jemima — Joanna 
Southcott — was born in Devonshire, England. Like her 
American prototype, she was of humble birth, Illiterate, and in 
early life had joined the Methodists — a sect then regarded by 
Church of England people as religious zealots and fanatics. 
Becoming acquainted with a man by the name of Sanderson, 



130 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

who claimed to be endued with the spirit of prophecy, Joanna 
made Hke pretensions herself. She gave forth that she was the 
woman driven into the wilderness mentioned in the Book of 
Revelations, and though very illiterate, wrote many letters, pam- 
phlets, and predictions in prose and verse. She also issued 
papers which she called her seals, which, she assured her fol- 
lowers, would protect them from the judgments of God here 
and hereafter, and be the means of their eternal salvation. 
Thousands of both sexes — amongst whom were many persons 
of good education and respectable position — received these 
seals with implicit confidence. When she had passed the age of 
sixty she imagined she was to give birth to a new Prince of Peace, 
and her followers, having the utmost faith in the announcement, 
prepared a handsome cradle, and made other expensive arrange- 
ments befitting so great an event. Joanna, however, simply had 
the dropsy, a disease which carried her off in 1814, as it did 
the American prophet a few years later. The similarity of their 
methods for raising the wind is amusing. Joanna writes to one 
of her adherents as follows : " I am the Lord thy God ! Tell 
M — to pay thee five pounds for thy expenses in coming up to 
London ; and he must give thee twenty pounds to relieve the per- 
plexity of thy handmaid and thee, that thy thoughts may be 
free to serve me, the Lord, in the care of my Shiloh." 

There is nothing so marvelous about these two women as the 
influence they exercised over the minds of their followers, many 
of whom — especially as regards Joanna — were people of in- 
telligence and cultivated minds. What Macaulay says of her 
may well apply to both : " We have seen an old woman with no 
ability beyond the cunning of a fortune-teller, and with the edu- 
cation of a scullion, surrounded by devoted followers, many of 
whom were in station and knowledge immeasurably her superiors ; 
and all this in the nineteenth century and in London. Yet why 
not? For the dealings of God with man have no more been re- 
vealed to the nineteenth century than to the first, or to London 
than to the wildest parish in the Hebrides." 
" The last Will and Testament of the person called the Uni- 
versal Friend, of Jerusalem, in the county of Ontario, and 
State of New York — who in the year one thousand seven 
hundred and seventy-six, was called Jemima Wilkinson, and 
ever since that time the Universal Friend, a new name which 
the mouth of the I^ord hath named. 



JEMIMA WILKINSON 131 

" Considering the uncertainty of this mortal life, and being 
of sound mind and memory, blessed be the Lord of Sabaoth and 
Father of Mercies therefor — I do make and publish this my last 
Will and Testament — 

" I. My Will is, that all my just debts be paid by my Execu- 
tors, hereafter named. 

" II. I give, bequeath and devise unto Rachel Malin and 
Margaret Malin, now of said Jerusalem, all my earthly prop- 
erty, both real and personal : that is to say, all my land lying in 
said Jerusalem and in Benton, or elsewhere in the county of 
Ontario, together with all the buildings thereon, to them, the 
said Rachel and Margaret, and their heirs and assigns forever, 
to be equally and amicably shared between them, the said Rachel 
and Margaret. And I do also give and bequeath to the said 
Rachel and Margaret Malin, all my wearing apparel, all my 
household furniture, and all my horses, cattle, sheep, and swine, 
of every kind and description, and also all my carriages, wagons, 
and carts, of every kind, together with all my farming tools 
and utensils, and all my movable property, of every nature and 
description whatever. 

" III. My Will is, that all the present members of my family, 
and each of them, be employed, if they please, and if employed, 
supported during natural life, by the said Rachel and Mar- 
garet, and when any of them become unable to help themselves, 
they are according to such inability, kindly to be taken care of 
by the said Rachel and Margaret. And my will also is, that 
all poor persons belonging to the Society of Universal Friends 
shall receive from the said Rachel and Margaret such assistance, 
comfort, and support during natural life as they need — and in 
case any, either of my family, or elsewhere in the Society, shall 
turn away, such shall forfeit the provisions herein made for 
them. 

" IV. I hereby ordain and appoint the above named Rachel 
and Margaret Malin Executors of this my last Will and Testa- 
ment. — In witness whereof, I, the person once called Jemima 
Wilkinson, but in, and ever since the year 1777, known as and 
called the Public Universal Friend, hereunto set my name and 
seal, the twenty-fifth day of the second month, in the year of the 
Lord eighteen hundred and eighteen. 

THE PUBLIC UNIVERSAL FRIEND, [l. s.] 

IN THE PKESENCE OF, &C., &C. 



132 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

" Be it remembered. That in order to remove all doubts of the 
due execution of the foregoing Will and Testament, being the 
person who before the year one thousand seven hundred and 
seventy-seven was known and called by the name of Jemima 
Wilkinson, but since that time as the Universal Friend, do make, 
publish, and declare the within instrument as my last Will and 
Testament — as witness my Hand and Seal, this seventeenth 
day of the seventh month (July), in the year one thousand 
eight hundred and eighteen. 

HER 

JEMIMA X WILKINSON, [l. s.] 

CROSS or MARK. 

OR UNIVERSAL FRIEND." 

WITNESSES, &C. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM. 

NO QUESTIONS that engage the human understanding 
are more interesting in their analysis or more vital in 
their import than those which deal with man's origin 
and destiny. Why are we here, and whither are 
we tending? What are our relations to the Creator, and 
His intentions toward us, now and hereafter? Wise men 
in all ages have given their best thought to the solution of these 
questions. Buddhist priests and Jewish rabbis, skilled in all 
the mystical lore of the East, pondered them, ages before 
the Wise Men saw Bethlehem's star. From them the Nazarene 
learned his lesson, and the best evidence that he was more than 
man is that he bettered their instruction. A majority of the 
Christian world holds Christ's doctrines to be emanations from 
Deity itself. In this they perhaps do wisely. Better accept 
the immaculate birth, incarnation, miracles, atonement on the 
cross, resurrection and ascension, as taught in the New Testa- 
ment, and guide the bark of faith by them, than to drift without 
compass or rudder on a boundless sea of speculation, doubt, and 
uncertainty. There is at least safety in the beaten path. And 
yet we cannot keep man's feet in that path. Reason, protest, 
denounce, and anathematize as we may, he will go astray. The 
check-rein of church authority no longer curbs or guides the 
human mind. The faith of this generation may be the fable of 
the next. The Episcopalian is not content with his prayer-book, 
and the Presbyterian is dissatisfied with his creed. Even " The 
Word of the Lord " which " endureth forever " has recently 
been revised. If we accept it, either in its original or revised 
form, we are little wiser so far as our relations to the Deity and 
His intentions toward us are concerned than were those who lived 
before the Scriptures were given to mankind. All faiths 
and all lack of faiths, all beliefs and all doubts, have 
been drawn from Holy Writ. No one has been able 
to lift the veil and disclose the ultimate truth, though 
the greatest minds in all ages have been earnestly busy 

138 



134 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

with the attempt. And not great minds alone but little ones. 
Enriched bj credulity and superstition, imposture has found in 
religious speculation a fertile field of effort. Such a field was 
opened nearly sixty years ago in Western New York by the 
promulgation of the Book of Monnon. As a part of pioneer 
history I shall try to give some account of the origin of a faith 
that has spread over half the globe, and has for years defied one 
of the strongest of existing governments. 

Joseph Smith, Jr., the bearer of the new evangel, and founder 
of the Church of Jesus Christ on earth of Latter Day Saints, 
was born in Sharon, Vermont, in 1805. His parents, Joseph, 
Sr., and Lucy Smith, can be truthfully described as poor, but it 
is doubtful whether the rest of the customary phrase can be ap- 
plied. The father was a shiftless, ignorant, underwitted, and 
credulous person, given to idle and speculative religious vagaries, 
and had embraced, from time to time, all the creeds and isms that 
had come in his way. He changed his beliefs more easily than his 
costumes, for he had more of them. He was a smatterer in 
Biblical knowledge and theology, but the seed was sown on barren 
soil and produced nothing but idle and shallow discussion. A 
behever in the marvelous and a money digger, prone to difiiculties 
with his neighbors and to petty lawsuits, he was the last person in 
the world who would have been suspected by those who knew him 
of being the father of a prophet. 

The wife was much superior to her husband. She was a woman 
of strong though uncultivated mind ; was bold, artful, and am- 
bitious ; believed that the world owed her a better living than had 
ever been provided by her husband, and saw her way to get it by 
interesting those who had money and credulity in some new 
and wonderful scheme of revelation in which they were to be co- 
workers. Her religious enthusiasm was not well regulated, and 
at the start had probably no higher aim than to provide for the 
temporal wants of herself and family without labor. The first 
hints that a prophet was to spring from her humble household 
came from her, but her husband was her faithful ally in all that 
promised to enable the family to prosper without work. 

Nothing definite was formulated until after their removal to 
the Genesee Country, which took place in 1816. The family, 
consisting of six sons and three daughters — Joseph being the 
fourth child in order of birth — settled at Palmyra, Wayne 
County, New York, and opened there a small shop for the sale 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 136 

of cakes, candies, spruce beer, and tobacco, adding, on the fourth 
of July and general muster days, pies, boiled eggs, gingerbread, 
and chestnuts, which they peddled from a rude cart constructed 
by the proprietor. The profits of this limited trade were insuf- 
ficient for the maintenance of Mr. Smith's large family, and 
were supplemented by occasional jobs of gardening and wood- 
sawing for the villagers, and by well-digging and harvest 
work for the surrounding farmers. A constitutional aversion to 
labor rendered the income from these sources small, and after a 
residence in Palmyra of about two and a half years the Smiths 
abandoned their shop and removed to a piece of wild or timbered 
land in the northeast comer of the town of Manchester, Ontario 
County, about two miles south of Palmyra. On this land they 
had built, previous to removing, a small one-story log house, 
having two apartments on the ground floor, and a low garret 
above similarly divided. The property belonged to non-resident 
minor heirs, and the rights of squatter sovereignty were exer- 
cised by the Smiths for a number of years ; but at length they 
purchased it on contract, paying a small sum doAvn, and in this 
way continued their occupancy until the exploiting of the Mor- 
mon scheme in 1829. 

Removal from the village failed to improve the pecuniary 
status of the Smiths. There was no quarter day, but there were 
also no cakes and ale. They underbrushed half an acre or so about 
their cabin, and when Mrs. Smith's tea or sugar gave out, driven 
by her and necessity, they would cut a jag of firewood and haul it 
to Palmyra, and from its sale replenish in a scanty way their stock 
of groceries. Turner, the author of a " History of the Holland 
Purchase," at that time a journeyman printer in Palmyra, thus 
describes Joseph, Jr. : " My recollections of him are distinct ones. 
He used to come into the village from his backwoods home 
with little jags of wood, sometimes patronizing the saloon too 
freely, and sometimes finding an odd job to do about the store of 
Seymour Scovell. Once a week he would stroll into the office of 
the old Palmyra Register for his father's paper. How impious 
in us to occasionally blacken the face of the future prophet with 
the old-fashioned ink-balls when his inquisitiveness put him in the 
way of the working of the old Ramage press." 

The father and his elder sons, Alvin and Hyrum, still did odd 
jobs of well-digging and harvesting, but the greater portion of 
their time was spent in hunting, fishing, trapping mink and 



136 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

muskrat, digging wood chucks out of their holes to supply 
vacancies in the family larder, and lounging around the shops 
and stores in Palmyra. Joseph was too lazy to hunt or dig — 
j ust lazy enough to fish, at which meditative sport he would pass 
whole days without moving from the spot where he made his first 
cast, possibly revolving the scheme which was to make him a 
marked if not an estimable character, but more likely lost in vis- 
ions of an earthly nature, such as locating buried treasures or 
devising other means for circumventing the original penalty — 
" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread." At lounging 
about he was the equal of his brethren and their progenitor. A 
large and thriftless family, without habits of industry or visible 
means of support, occupies an unfortunate place amongst indus- 
trious and honest neighbors. 

Suspicion was often turned toward them in connection with 
nocturnal depredations on hen roosts, smokehouses, and sheep- 
folds, which they in turn charged upon four-footed marauders. 
The pioneer, however, was too familiar with the tracks of 
wolves, foxes, and weasels to mistake them for human footprints. 
But it must in all fairness be said that, whatever may have been 
the suspicions of their neighbors, no judicial proceedings ever 
traced missing property to Smith's door. 

The general repute of the family may be learned from the 
following statements. Any old resident of Palmyra or Man- 
chester will recognize among the signatures the names of the best 
people living at that time in those towns. 

" Manchester, Ontario Co., N. Y., Nov. 3, 1833. 
" We, the undersigned, being personally acquainted with the 
family of Joseph Smith, Sen., with whom the Gold Bible, so 
called, originated, state that they were not only a lazy, indolent 
set of men, but also intemperate, and their word was not to be 
depended upon, and that we are truly glad to dispense with their 
society. 

Pardon Butts, Warren A. Reed, 

Hiram Smith, Alfred Stafford, 

James Gee, Abel Chase, 

A. H. Wentworth, Moses C. Smith, 

Joseph Fish, Horace N. Barnes, 

Sylvester Worden." 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 13T 

" Palmyra, Dec. 4, 1833. 
" We, the undersigned, have been acquainted with the Smith 
family for a number of years, while they resided near this place, 
and we have no hesitation in saying that we consider them desti- 
tute of that moral character which ought to entitle them to the 
confidence of any community. They were particularly famous 
for visionary projects, spent much of their time in digging for 
money which they pretended was hid in the earth; and, to this 
day, large excavations may be seen in the earth, not far from 
their residence, where they used to spend their time in digging 
for hidden treasures. Joseph Smith, Senior, and his son Joseph, 
were, in particular, considered entirely destitute of moral char- 
acter, and addicted to vicious habits. 

" Martin Harris was a man who had acquired a handsome 
property, and in matters of business his word was considered 
good; but on moral and rehgious subjects he was perfectly vis- 
ionary — sometimes advocating one sentiment and sometimes 
another. And in reference to all with whom we were acquainted 
that have embraced Mormonism from this neighborhood, we are 
compelled to say were very visionary, and most of them destitute 
of moral character and without influence in this community: 
and this may account why they were permitted to go on with 
their impositions undisturbed. It was not supposed that any of 
them were possessed of sufficient character or influence to make 
anyone believe their book or their sentiments, and we know not 
of a single individual in this vicinity that puts the least confi- 
dence in their pretended revelations. 

George N. Williams, Clark Robinson, 

Lemuel Durfee, E. S. Townsend, 

Henry P. Alger, C. E. Thayer, 

G. W. Anderson, H. P. Thayer, 

L. Williams, George W. Crosby, 

Levi Thayer, R. S. Williams, 

P. Sexton, M. Butterfield, 

S. P. Seymour, D. S. Jackways, 

John Hurlbut, H. Linnell, 

James Jenner, S. Ackley, 

Josiah Rice, Jesse Townsend, 

Richard D. Clark, Th. P. Baldwin, 

John Sothington, Durfey Chase, 

Wells Anderson, N. H. Beckwith, 



138 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Philo Durfee, Giles S. Ely, 

R. W. Smith, Pelatiah West, 

Henry Jessup, Linus North, 

Thomas Rogers, 2d, Wm. Parke, 

JosiAH Francis, Amos Hollistee, 

G. A. Hathaway, David G. Ely, 

H. K. Jerome, G. Beckwith, 

Lewis Foster, Hiram Payne, 

P. Grandin, L. Hurd, 

Joel Thayer, E. D. Robinson, 

Asahel Millard, A. Ensworth, 
Israel F. Chilson." 

In September, 1819, a trifling and apparently unimportant 
event occurred which, however, had much to do in estabhshing the 
Mormon Church. This was the discovery of the celebrated Peek 
Stone. It was unearthed by the Prophet's father and elder 
sons while engaged in digging a well near Palmyra for Mr. 
Clark Chase. It first attracted the attention of Mr. Chase's 
children by the peculiarity of its shape, which nearly resembled 
the foot of a young child. When washed it was whitish, glossy, 
and opaque in appearance. Joseph, Jr., who was an idle looker- 
on at the labors of his father and brethren, at once possessed 
himself of this geological oddity, but not without strenuous 
protest on the part of the children, who claimed it by right of 
discovery, and because it was found upon their father's premises. 
Joseph, however, kept it, and though frequent demands were 
made, after it became famous, for its restoration, it was never 
returned to the claimants. Very soon it became noised abroad 
that by means of this stone the inchoate Prophet could locate 
buried treasure and discover the whereabouts of stolen property. 
In the latter case he might not have had to look a great way. 
People from far and near who had lost valuables consulted 
Joseph. With his eyes bandaged and his Peek Stone at the bot- 
tom of a tall white hat, he satisfied all inquirers for a fee of 
seventy-five cents. My grandfather paid that sum to learn what 
had become of a valuable mare stolen from his stable, and he was 
a tolerably shrewd and prosperous Dutchman for those days. 
He recovered his beast, which Joe said was somewhere 
on the lake shore, and about to be run over to Canada. 
Anybody could have told him that, as it was invariably the 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 139 

way a horsethief would take to dispose of a stolen animal in 
those days. 

It was not long before Joe discovered that with his stone he 
could locate hidden treasures of great value. Glittering heaps 
of gold and silver, contained in earthen pots and iron chests, 
buried in the earth, were revealed to his vision and their exact 
locality indicated by its aid. When we consider the attractive- 
ness of suddenly-acquired wealth to the generality of mankind, 
and the fascination which gold hunting has possessed from the 
days when Jason and Captain Kidd sailed the main down to the 
time when the Argonauts of '49 went 'round the Horn, we can- 
not wonder that some of the poorer and more credulous of Joe's 
neighbors believed his stories and helped him to unearth his fabu- 
lous treasures. The shining hoards he pretended to see had this 
advantage : they were in stamped and minted coin, unmixed with 
baser matter. There was no occasion for a washer, smelter, or 
assayer. His money-digging operations were organized much 
in the usual way. The working capital was labor and whiskey. 
The former was contributed by toiling men who were to share 
in the profits of the enterprise. The whiskey was supplied by 
Joe from funds raised in the vicinity from credulous and good- 
natured people who were taken in on the ground plan, and prom- 
ised a thousand-fold for every dollar invested. From those who 
were not prepared to pay in cash, contributions of grain, flour, 
fat sheep, calves, and pigs were received. It seems hardly 
credible, but it is true, that for nearly five years the Smiths 
found dupes who supported them in considerable comfort by 
contributions to their fortune-telling and money-digging schemes. 

Joe's delving parties were organized with much secrecy and 
mystery. He usually named some unfrequented spot and 
the dead hour of night as the place and time of rendezvous. 
Thither the party repaired with lanterns, spades, shovels, and 
pickaxes. After some preparatory mystic ceremonies, 
such as the waving of a magic wand, and the utter- 
ance of some foolish incantation gibberish, Joe would 
look at the Peek Stone in his hat, and then indicate 
the spot where the digging was to begin. Absolute 
silence was the condition of success. Work would go on for 
hours and hours without a word being spoken. At length some 
tired and perhaps disgusted digger, " tempted by the Spirit of 
Evil," would speak, and the treasure would vanish. The com- 



140 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

pany were always assured by Joe that if the spell had not been 
broken a few more blows would have revealed the glittering heaps. 
But the spell always was broken, and the wonder remains that 
Smith should have been able to continue these operations until 
the surface of the earth in his neighborhood was full of holes, 
digged by his dupes. I copy an account of one of these delving 
operations from Pomeroy Tucker's " History of the Rise and 
Progress of Mormonism." He says : " A single instance of 
Smith's style of conducting these money-diggings will suffice for 
the whole series, and illustrate his low cunning and the strange 
infatuation of the people who yielded to his unprincipled designs. 
Assuming his accustomed air of mystery on one of these occa- 
sions, and pretending to see by his miraculous stone just where 
the sought-for chest of money had lodged in its underground 
transits, he gave out the revelation that a black sheep would be 
required as a sacrificial offering upon the enchanted ground 
before entering upon the work of exhumation. He knew that 
his kind-hearted neighbor, Wm. Stafford — a farmer in comfort- 
able worldly circumstances — possessed a fine, fat, black wether, 
intended for division between his household and the village mar- 
ket. Joe also knew that Mr. Stafford had been for many years 
a sailor, and was prone toward the vagaries and superstitions 
of liis class. He therefore proposed that his friend should in- 
vest the wether as his share in the speculation, a proposition to 
which the credulous sailor readily acceded. At the appointed 
hour of night the diggers with lanterns and the fatted sheep for 
the sacrifice were conducted by Joseph to the spot where the 
treasure was to be obtained. There he described a circle on 
the ground around the buried chest. As usual, not a word was to 
be spoken until after the prize was brought forth. Everything 
being in readiness, the throat of the sheep was cut, and the poor 
animal made to pour out its blood around the circle. Then the 
digging began in a vigorous and solemn way. In this case it 
was continued for three hours, when some one, instigated b}'' the 
devil, ' spoke,' and the plan was again frustrated, exactly as on 
repeated former trials ! In the meantime the elder Smith, aided 
by one of his sons, had withdrawn the sacrificial carcass 
and dressed it for family use." Perhaps there was more than 
one black sheep in that party. 

Although human credulity seems to be unbounded, yet the same 
unsuccessful schemes being worked upon a few persons over a 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 141 

series of years become at length a trifle stale and monotonous, and 
it is no wonder that Joe's neighbors began after a while to tire of 
making contributions of labor, money, and barter to his money- 
digging operations. The fame of these nocturnal adventures, 
however, had been sounded near and far, and the miraculous Peek 
Stone, though it had never been the means of bringing 
forth a dime except from the pocket of some credu- 
lous neighbor, had become nearly as celebrated as the 
lamp of Aladdin. Among those who had heard of it was 
the Rev. Sidney Rigdon, who appeared at the log hut of the 
Smiths in the summer of 1827 and had an interview with the 
money digger. I give it as my deliberate opinion that the 
credit or discredit of being the founder of the Mormon faith be- 
longs to Mr. Rigdon. The Smiths never had brains enough to 
exploit it. It is true that Mrs. Smith had given out that she was 
to be the mother of a prophet, but she had fixed upon her eldest 
son Alvin to be the wearer of Elijah's mantle, and with his death 
all her hopes in that direction were blasted. I am furthermore 
of opinion that if Alvin Smith had lived the Gold Bible and 
Mormonism would never have been heard of. He seems to have 
been the only level-headed, honest member of the family. He 
had some habits of industry, and his neighbors were willing to 
exchange work with him, or trust him for a bag of wheat or 
com, for a ham or a jag of fodder, upon his promise to pay for 
the same in labor. He had no faith in the Peek Stone or the 
money-digging schemes, was not given to religious vagaries, and 
it is very doubtful whether he could have been induced by Rigdon 
to become a party to the fraud upon which the Mormon faith 
is based. An examination of the facts will go far toward estab- 
lishing Mr. Rigdon's claim to be the founder of the Mormon 
Church. 

If contemporary evidence is of any value, it settles beyond dis- 
pute the fact that Joseph Smith, Jr., was not a person of suf- 
ficient education to have written the Book of JNIormon. In fact, 
he could hardly write at all, his eff'orts in the way of caligraphy 
being confined in the main to inscribing in an awkward and 
laborious manner his own name. His reading was confined to 
works of fiction of the dime-novel class, and to stories of piracy 
and criminality. The lives of Stephen Burroughs and Captain 
Kidd captivated his fancy and satisfied his mental cravings. Up 
to the time when Mr. Rigdon appeared on the scene Joe's principal 



143 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

characteristics were taciturnity, secretiveness, and mysterious 
pretensions ; when disposed to be communicative, which was not 
often, he was so mendacious and extravagant in statement as to 
bring upon himself the aversion and contempt of his auditors. 
His rehgious views were unique and original at first, but de- 
generated into unbelief and blasphemy, and finally led him to the 
conclusion that " all sects were wrong, all churches on a false 
foundation, and the Bible a fable." Yet we are asked to believe 
that a new revelation from God to man was made through such 
a medium as this. The only other person in any way connected 
with the production of the Mormon Bible was Oliver Cowdery. 
He was a country schoolmaster whose education was limited to a 
superficial acquaintance with the three R's. Perhaps a claim to 
celestial inspiration might be urged in his behalf from the fact 
that he taught school two winters in the district that was after- 
ward the home of the Fox Sisters, who originated modem Spirit- 
ualism. But the main reason of his association with Smith 
and Rigdon was that they wanted a scribe who wrote a legible 
hand, which Smith certainly did not. Rigdon was the only one 
of the triumvirate who could pretend to any literary abihty, and 
he — as the sequel will show — was a compiler, and not an orig- 
inator. Previous to his acquaintance with Smith he had been 
preacher, printer, and lecturer, in short, a sort of versatile tramp 
who was willing to turn his hand to anything except honest labor. 
Just how he became acquainted with the Smiths is not known, but 
it is probable he had heard of their miraculous stone, and believing 
he could turn it to good use, or rather to personal advantage, 
sought them out and introduced himself. For nearly two years 
his visits to them were secret and incognito, a style of thing 
that suited Joe exactly. He was known to the neighbors as the 
mysterious stranger. Though not susceptible of absolute proof, 
it is reasonably certain that he furnished Joe with two things 
which formed the basis of the Mormon Bible. The first was a 
set of plates " having the appearance of gold," upon which were 
engraved curious hieroglyphics ; the second, a manuscript tale 
concerning certain lost tribes which had formerly inhabited 
North America, one of which had been exterminated by the other 
— the remnant of the remaining tribe being the native Indians 
found here when the country was discovered. From this tale, 
mixed up with copious quotations and paraphrases from the Old 
and New Testament, the Book of Mormon was compiled. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 143 

How did Rigdon become possessed of the plates? In answer, 
I quote from Mr. Tucker's history : " Among American an- 
tiquities found in the Western country and preserved by the 
curious in such matters, are what are called glyphs, consisting 
of curious metallic plates covered with hieroglyphical characters. 
Professor Raffinesque, in his Asiatic Journal for 1832, describes 
similar plates found by him in Mexico, being written from top 
to bottom like the Chinese language, or from side to side, indif- 
ferently, like the Egyptian and Demotic Libyan. A number of 
these remains were found in Pike County, Illinois, a few years ago, 
described as six plates of brass of a bell shape, each having a hole 
near the small end, with a ring through all of them, and clasped 
with two clasps. The plates at first seemed to be of copper, and 
had the appearance of being covered with characters. A cleansing 
by sulphuric acid brought out the characters distinctly." 

Rigdon was of a speculative turn of mind — was possessed of 
some little scientific ability, and had lectured upon antiquarian and 
philosophical subjects in the Western States, where he probably 
picked up a set of these glyphs or plates. It is certainly more 
reasonable to assume this than to believe that eleven of Smith's 
followers made affidavits to a deliberate falsehood when they 
testified that they had seen " plates having the appearance of 
gold " in possession of the Prophet. Three men, Cowdery, 
David Whitmer, and Martin Harris, affirmed that an angel from 
heaven came down from God and laid the plates before their 
eyes, and that they saw the engravings thereon. This was un- 
doubtedly false as to the angel, but eight others — all Smiths 
and Whitmers, to be sure, except one — testified that Joseph 
Smith, Jr., had " shown them the plates and the engravings 
thereon, that they had handled and * hefted ' the same, and that 
they know of a surety that said Smith had the plates in his pos- 
session from which the translation was made." For the credit 
of human character it is best to assume that Rigdon had fur- 
nished Joe with a set of the glyphs which have been described. 

The manuscript tale, which was the other corner stone of the 
Mormon structure, was written by the Reverend Solomon Spald- 
ing, about the year 1810 or 1811. Who he was may be learned 
from the subjoined statements of his brother and partner, which 
explain themselves : 

" Solomon Spalding was bom in Ashford, Conn., in 1761, 
and in early life contracted a taste for literary pursuits. After 



144 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

he left school he entered Plainfield Academy, where he made great 
proficiency in study, and excelled most of his class-mates. He 
next commenced the study of law, in Windliam County, in which 
he made little progress, having in the meantime turned his at- 
tention to religious subjects. He soon entered Dartmouth Col- 
lege, with the intention of qualifying himself for the ministry, 
where he obtained the degree of A. M., and was afterward regu- 
larly ordained. After preaching three or four years, he gave 
it up, removed to Cherry Valley, New York, and commenced the 
mercantile business in company with his brother Josiah. In a 
few years he failed in business, and in the year 1809 removed 
to Conneaut, in Ohio. The year following I removed to Ohio, 
and found him engaged in building a forge. I made him a visit 
in about three years after, and found that he had failed, and was 
considerably involved in debt. He then told me he had been 
writing a book, which he intended to have printed, the avails of 
which he thought would enable him to pay all his debts. The 
book was entitled, the ' Manuscript Found,' of which he read to 
me many passages. It was an historical romance of the first 
settlers of America — endeavoring to show that the American 
Indians are the descendants of the Jews, or the lost tribes. It 
gave a detailed account of their journey from Jerusalem, by 
land and sea, till they arrived in America, under the command of 
NEPHI and LEHI, They afterward had quarrels and conten- 
tions, and separated into two distinct nations, one of which he 
denominated Nephites and the other Lamanites. Cruel and 
bloody wars ensued, in which great multitudes were slain. They 
buried their dead in large heaps, which caused the mounds so 
common in this country. Their arts, sciences, and civilization 
were brought into view, in order to account for all the curious 
antiquities found in various parts of North and South America. 
I have recently read the book of Mormon, and, to my great sur- 
prise, I find nearly the same historical matter, names, etc., as 
they were in my brother's writings. I well remember that he 
wrote in the old style, and commenced about every sentence with, 
' And it came to pass,' or * Now it came to pass,' the same 
as in the Book of Mormon, and, according to the best of my recol- 
lection and belief, it is the same as my brother Solomon wrote, 
with the exception of the religious matter. By what means it 
has fallen into the hands of Joseph Smith, Jr., I am unable to 
determine. John Spalding." 




JOSEPH SMITH 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 145 

" CoNNEAUT, Ashtabula County, Ohio, Sept., 1833. 
" I left the State of New York, late in the year 1810, and ar- 
rived at this place about the first of January following. Soon 
after my arrival, I formed a partnership with Solomon Spalding, 
for the purpose of rebuilding a forge which he had commenced 
a year or two before. He very frequently read to me from a 
manuscript which he was writing, which he entitled, the ' Manu- 
script Found,' and which he represented as being found in this 
town. I spent many hours in hearing him read said writings, 
and became well acquainted with their contents. He wished me 
to assist him in getting his production printed, alleging that a 
book of that kind would meet with a rapid sale. I designed 
doing so, but the forge not meeting our anticipations, we failed 
in business, when I declined having anything to do with the 
publication of the book. This book represented the American 
Indians as the descendants of the lost tribes — gave an account 
of their leaving Jerusalem, their contentions and wars, which 
were many and great. One time, when he was reading to me 
the tragic account of Lab an, I pointed out to him what I con- 
sidered an inconsistency, which he promised to correct ; but by 
referring to the Book of IMormon, I find, to my surprise, that it 
stands there just as he read it to me then. Some months ago I 
borrowed the Golden Bible, put it into my pocket, carried it home, 
and thought no more of it. About a week after, my wife found 
the book in my coat pocket, as it hung up, and commenced read- 
ing it aloud as I lay upon the bed. She had not read twenty 
minutes till I was astonished to find the same passages in it that 
Spalding had read to me more than twenty years before, from his 
* Manuscript Found.' Since that, I have more fully examined 
the said Golden Bible, and have no hesitation in saying, that 
the historical part of it is principally, if not wholly, taken from 
the ' Manuscript Found.' I well recollect telling INIr. Spalding 
that the so frequent use of the words, ' And it came to pass,' 
' Now it came to pass,' rendered it ridiculous. Spalding left 
here in 1812, and I furnished him the means to carry him to 
Pittsburg, where he said he would get the book printed, and pay 
me. But I never heard any more from him or his writings, till 
I saw them in the Book of Mormon. 

" Henry Lake." 

Aaron Wright, Oliver Smith, and Nahum Howard, of Con- 



146 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

neaut, make confirmatory statements. Evidence to an unlimited 
extent might — if necessary — be adduced, showing the sub- 
stantial identity between Spalding's tale and Smith and Rigdon's 
revelation. Rigdon's possession of the manuscript is easily 
explained: It will be seen that Spalding after having failed in 
business removed to Pittsburg, Pa., where he expected to recoup 
his fortunes by the publication of his book. He there submit- 
ted his manuscript to a firm of printers, Messrs. Patterson & 
Lambdin, with a view to its issue on joint account, but the pro- 
posal was not carried out. What became of the manuscript is 
now the question ? Spalding's widow supposed it to be in a trunk 
with other writings of her husband which she had removed to 
Otsego County, New York, after his decease, but upon search 
it was not to be found. She remembered that while they lived 
in Pittsburg her husband had taken it to the office of Patterson 
& Lambdin, but whether it was ever returned she was unable to 
say. The probability is that it remained with other lumber on 
the printers' shelves until it was discovered and appropriated by 
Rigdon about 1823 or 1824. He at this period resided in 
Pittsburg and was intimate with Lambdin, the survivor of the 
printing firm — Patterson having joined the majority. Rigdon 
remained in Pittsburg nearly three years, and, according to his 
own statement, abandoned preaching and lived in seclusion for 
the purpose of studying the Bible. Though it cannot be estab- 
lished by positive proof, there is little doubt that he obtained the 
Spalding manuscript from Lambdin, and that during his seclu- 
sion, instead of studying the Bible he was paving the way for 
a substitute for it, which he and Smith afterward issued as the 
Book of ]\Iormon. After the death of Lambdin, Rigdon removed 
to Geauga County, Ohio, where he began preaching new points 
of doctrine, which were found — after its publication — to be in- 
culcated in the Mormon Bible. The death of Lambdin left Rig- 
don sole proprietor of the work which was probably to be issued 
by them jointly. The latter was now free to bring it out in 
such manner as he thought best calculated to insure its success. 
He knew very well that no publisher would touch it on its literary 
merit, and therefore concluded to announce it to the world as a 
new revelation from on high. Who more likely to assist in thus 
exploiting it than the famous money-digger .^ His juggling feats 
had been heralded far and wide, and had lost nothing in their tell- 
ing. His delving schemes had been transferred to Pennsylvania 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 147 

after becoming dishonored in his own country, and faith in the 
miraculous stone was much stronger abroad than at home. It was 
undoubtedly with a view to utilizing Joe and his stone that Rigdon 
paid his first visit to the Smiths. Enveloped in mystery and se- 
clusion, the two worthies plotted and planned, until the whole 
miserable fraud was formulated, and the new revelation ready to 
be announced. So many different stories were told by Joe in 
regard to finding the golden plates that it is impossible to say 
which was least mendacious. It may be he had never heard of the 
adage that liars should have good memories. The gist of his 
tales may be summed up about as follows: A message from 
heaven disclosed to him the fact that certain golden plates, on 
both sides of which were engraved finely drawn characters re- 
sembling Egyptian hieroglyphics, were lying buried in a hill 
near his residence. The leaves or plates were said to be about 
the thickness of tin. On the top of the chest containing the 
plates were two crystals set in the rims of a bow in the, form 
of spectacles of enormous size. These he denominated the Urim 
and Thummim,* and only by their aid could the engraving on the 
plates be understood and translated. The mystic record con- 
tained a new revelation from God to man, which was to supersede 
all that had gone before. 

The hill where these plates were buried is located about two 
miles south of Palmyra, on a farm now owned by George Samp- 
son. There is nothing very remarkable about this hill except its 
steepness, which makes it difficult to cultivate. When I saw it 
last, a flock of sheep were grazing on its barren-looking and 
precipitous sides, unconscious of the fact that they were treading 
upon ground held by the Mormon Church to be holy, and appar- 
ently deriving very little material sustenance from the soil which 
had yielded such grand results in a spiritual way. It is known 
to the Mormon Saints as the hill of Camorah, and is visited and 
gazed at with awe and reverence by numbers of them every year. 
The exact locality on the hillside where the plates lay buried 
was indicated to Joe by his magic stone, but that mar- 
velous article was thenceforward to be superseded by 
the Urim and Thummim. Not long after Rigdon's first 

* Butterworth's concordance says : " There are various conjectures about the 
Urim and Thummim, but whether they were stones in the High Priest's 
breastplate, or something distinct from them is not known. It is evident that 
the Urim and Thummim were used in making inquiry of the Deity on moment- 
ous occasions." 



148 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

visit, Smith began to assume the role of Prophet, Seer, and Reve- 
lator. He pretended that while engaged in secret prayer in the 
wilderness an angel of the Lord had appeared to him and an- 
nounced that " all the religious denominations were believing 
false doctrines, and, in consequence, none of them were accepted 
of God as of his Church and Kingdom." The angel also prom- 
ised Joseph that the true doctrine and fullness of the gospel 
should be revealed through him. From this time forward Joe 
had revelations whenever he wanted them. Very soon another 
angel " commanded " him to go secretly and alone to a certain 
spot which would be indicated by his celestial guide and there 
take from the earth a metallic book of sacred origin and of im- 
mortal importance to mankind — the power to translate which 
should be given only to him as the chosen servant of the IMost 
High. At an appointed hour and under guidance of the 
angel, Joe repaired to the spot where the sacred records lay 
buried, which was on the east side of the hill already described. 
He told a frightful story of the difficulties encountered before 
he possessed himself of the holy volume. Ten thousand devils 
were gathered around the spot and menaced him with sulphurous 
smoke and flame to deter him from his purpose, but the angel 
appearing as his protector he soon laid his hands upon the im- 
mortal records, together with the Urim and Thummim, and bore 
them in safety to his humble abode. Reminding his family of 
the fact that the angel had said that no human being but himself 
could look upon the golden plates and live, he laid them away in a 
napkin like another unprofitable servant that has been mentioned. 
His claim to their possession was soon noised abroad, and the 
story of the demons who encompassed him round about, of the 
smoke, brimstone, and flame through which the angel of the Lord 
safely conducted him and his treasure, lost nothing as it went 
from ear to ear. Curiosity to see the heavenly records ran high, 
but the death penalty denounced against the mortal who should 
gaze upon them was sufficient to hold the great majority of his 
neighbors in check. Two of the Prophet's intimate acquaint- 
ances, Azel Vandruver and William T. Hussey, not having the 
fear of death before their eyes, begged him for a peep at the 
" golden plates," and off'ered to take upon themselves all risk of 
the penalty denounced. They were of course denied, but were 
permitted to see where they were, and observe their shape and 
size, as they lay concealed under a thick canvas. Hussey lightly 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 149 

pushed the Prophet aside, exclaiming as he did so, " Egad ! I'll 
see them dead or alive," and whipped off the cover. He was re- 
warded by a sight of some tile brick. Joe was equal to the 
emergency. He told his visitors that knowing the deadly pen- 
alty of a sight of the real plates he had provided something of 
about the same size and weight to meet such an emergency as 
had just arisen. Kind-hearted man! he had saved the life of 
his friend! Did the Smiths, the Whitmers, Cowdery, Harris, 
and Page — eleven of them in all — bear false witness in testify- 
ing that they had seen the plates, and did Joe not possess even 
the glyphs that have been described? 

With intent to tell the plain truth only about Smith and his 
coworkers, it is not easy to comply. How can anyone take the 
conflicting stories of the Prophet and his followers — some of 
them confederates and some of them dupes — and say how much 
fact and how much fable they contain? Joe said that no one 
could see the golden plates and live, yet eleven of his followers 
testify to having seen them. Rather than believe that these 
men committed perjury, I have assumed that the Prophet had in 
his possession plates " having the appearance of gold," which 
the eleven saw and " hefted." But if he had such plates, they 
were not under the canvas which Hussey and Vandruver removed. 
When he found it necessary to have proof of their existence, a 
revelation from heaven remitted the death penalty so far as eleven 
of his followers were concerned, for which remission see the 
eleventh chapter of the second book of Nephi. And thereafter, 
whenever he became badly tangled in a network of falsehood, 
a revelation straightened everything out up to date. 

Let us now look for a moment at the tales the Prophet himself 
told his neighbors about his find, 

Peter Ingersol, a neighbor, who shared his confidence if any- 
one did, testifies as follows : 

" One day he came and greeted me with a joyful countenance. 
Upon asking the cause of his unusual happiness, he replied in 
the following language : ' As I was passing, yesterday, across 
the woods, after a heavy shower of rain, I found in a hollow, some 
beautiful white sand that had been washed up by the water. I 
took off my frock, and tied up several quarts of it, and then went 
home. On my entering the house, I found the family at the 
table eating dinner. They were all anxious to know the contents 
of my frock. At that moment I happened to think of what I 



150 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

had heard about a history found in Canada, called the Golden 
Bible ; so I very gravely told them it was the Golden Bible. To 
my surprise, they were credulous enough to believe what I said. 
Accordingly, I told them that I had received a commandment to 
let no one see it, for, says I, no man can see it with the naked eye 
and live. However, I offered to take out the book and show it to 
them, but they refused to see it, and left the room. Now,' said 
Joe, ' I have got the damned fools fixed, and will carry out the 
fun.' Notwithstanding he told me he had no such book, and be- 
lieved there never was any such book, yet he told me that he 
actually went to Willard Chase, to get him to make a chest in 
which he might deposit his Golden Bible. But, as Chase would 
not do it, he made a box himself of clapboards, and put it into a 
pillow-case, and allowed people only to lift it, and feel of it 
through the case." 

Mr. Willard Chase makes the subjoined statement: 
*' In the forepart of September (I beheve), 1827, the Prophet 
requested me to make him a chest, informing me that he de- 
signed to move back to Pennsylvania, and expecting soon to get 
his gold book, he wanted a chest to lock it up, giving me to 
understand, at the same time, that if I would make the chest he 
would give me a share in the book. I told him my business was 
such that I could not make it ; but if he would bring the book to 
me I would lock it up for him. He said that would not do, as 
he was commanded to keep it two years, without letting it come to 
the eye of anyone but himself. This commandment, however, 
he did not keep, for in less than two years twelve men said they 
had seen it. I told him to get it and convince me of its existence, 
and I would make him a chest ; but he said that would not do, as 
he must have a chest to lock the book in as soon as he took it out 
of the ground. I saw him a few days after, when he told me that 
I must make the chest. I told him plainly that I could not, upon 
which he told me that I could have no share in the book. 

" A few weeks after this conversation, he came to my house, 
and related the following story : — That on the 22d of September 
he arose early in the morning, and took a one-horse wagon, of 
someone that had stayed over night at their house, without leave 
or license ; and, together with his wife, repaired to the hill which 
contained the book. He left his wife in the wagon, by the road, 
and went alone to the hill, a distance of thirty or forty rods from 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 151 

the road ; he said he then took the book out of the ground and hid 
it in a tree-top, and returned home. He then went to the town 
of Macedon to work. After about ten days, it having been sug- 
gested that some one had got his book, his wife went after him ; 
he hired a horse, and went home in the afternoon, stayed long 
enough to drink one cup of tea, and then went for his book, 
found it safe, took off his frock, wrapt it round it, put it under 
his arm, and run all the way home, a distance of about two miles. 
He said he should think it would weigh sixty pounds, and was 
sure it would weigh forty. On his return home he said he was 
attacked by two men in the woods, and knocked them both down 
and made his escape, arrived safe, and secured his treasure. He 
then observed that if it had not been for that stone (which he ac- 
knowledged belonged to me) he would not have obtained the book. 
A few days afterward, he told one of my neighbors that he had 
not got any such book, and never had ; but that he had told the 
story to deceive the d — d fool (meaning me), to get him to make 
a chest. His neighbors having become disgusted with his foolish 
stories, he determined to go back to Pennsylvania, to avoid what 
he called persecution. His wits were now put to the task to 
contrive how he should get money to bear his expenses. He met 
one day, in the streets of Palmyra, a rich man, whose name was 
Martin Harris, and addressed him thus : — ' I have a command- 
ment from God to ask the first man I meet in the street to give 
me fifty dollars, to assist me in doing the work of the Lord, by 
translating the Golden Bible.' Martin, being naturally a credu- 
lous man, handed Joseph the money. In the spring, 1829, 
Harris went to Pennsylvania, and on his return to Palmyra, re- 
ported that the Prophet's wife, in the month of June following, 
would be delivered of a male child that would be able, when two 
years old, to translate the Gold Bible. Then, said he, you will 
see Joseph Smith, Jr., walking through the streets of Palmyra, 
with a Gold Bible under his arm, and having a gold breastplate 
on, and a gold sword hanging by his side. This, however, by the 
bye, proved false. 

" In April, 1830, I again asked Hiram for the stone which he 
had borrowed of me ; he told me I should not have it, for Joseph 
made use of it in translating his Bible. I reminded him of his 
promise, and that he had pledged his honor to return it ; but he 
gave me the lie, saying the stone was not mine, nor never was. 
Harris at the same time flew in a rage, took me by the collar and 



152 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN MEW YORK 

said I was a liar, and he could prove it by twelve witnesses. After 
I had extricated myself from him, Hiram, in a rage, shook his 
fist at me, and abused me in a most scandalous manner. Thus I 
might proceed in describing the character of these high priests, 
by relating one transaction after another, which would all tend 
to set them in the same light in which they were regarded by 
their neighbors, viz., as a pest to society. I have regarded 
Joseph Smith, Jr., from the time I first became acquainted with 
him until he left this part of the country, as a man whose word 
could not be depended upon. Hiram's character was but very 
little better. What I have said respecting the characters of these 
men will apply to the whole family. What I have stated relative 
to the characters of these individuals, thus far, is wholly true. 
After they became thorough Mormons, their conduct was more 
disgraceful than before. They did not hesitate to abuse any 
man, no matter how fair his character, provided he did not em- 
brace their creed. Their tongues were continually employed in 
spreading scandal and abuse. Although they left this part of 
the country without paying their just debts, yet their creditors 
were glad to have them do so, rather than to have them stay, dis- 
turbing the neighborhood. 

" Signed, Willard Chase." 

" On the 11th of December, 1833, the said Willard Chase ap- 
peared before me, and made oath that the foregoing statement, 
to which he has subscribed his name, is true, according to his 
best recollection and belief. Frederick Smith, 

" Justice of the Teace of Wayne County." 

Parley Chase affirms as follows : — "I was acquainted with 
the family of Joseph Smith, Sen., both before and since they 
became Mormons, and feel free to state that not one of the male 
members of the Smith family were entitled to any credit what- 
soever. They were lazy, intemperate, and worthless men — 
very much addicted to lying. In this they frequently boasted 
of their skill. Digging for money was their principal employ- 
ment. In regard to their Gold Bible speculation, they scarcely 
ever told two stories alike." 

Abigail Harris made the following affirmation, which is sus- 
tained by a similar one from Lucy, the wife of Martin Harris : 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 153 

Palmyra, Wayne Co., N. Y., 11th mo. 28, 1833. 

" In the early part of the winter in 1828 I made a visit to 
Martin Harris's, and was joined in company by Joseph Smith, 
Sen., and his wife. The Gold Bible business, so called, was the 
topic of conversation, to which I paid particular attention, that 
I might learn the truth of the whole matter. They told me that 
the report that Joseph, Jr., had found golden plates was true, 
and that he was in Harmony, Pa., translating them. The old 
lady said, also, that after the book was translated, the plates were 
to be publicly exhibited — admittance twenty-five cents. She 
calculated it would bring in annually an enormous sum of money 
— that money would then be very plenty, and the book would also 
sell for a great price, as it was something entirely new — that 
they had been commanded to obtain all the money they could 
borrow for present necessity, and to repay with gold. The re- 
mainder was to be kept in store for the benefit of their family 
and children. This and the like conversation detained me till 
about 11 o'clock. Early the next morning, the mystery of the 
Spirit (being myself one of the order called Friends), was re- 
vealed by the following circumstance : — The old lady took me 
into another room, and after closing the door, she said, * Have 
you four or five dollars in money that you can lend until our 
business is brought to a close? the Spirit has said you shall re- 
ceive four-fold.' I told her that when I gave, I did it not expect- 
ing to receive again ; as for money, I had none to lend. I then 
asked her what her particular want of money was ; to which 
she replied, * Joseph wants to take the stage and come home 
from Pennsylvania to see what we are all about.' To which I 
replied, he might look in his stone and save his time and money. 
The old lady seemed confused, and left the room, and thus ended 
the visit. 

" In the second month following, Martin Harris and his wife 
were at my house. In conversation about Mormonites, she ob- 
served that she wished her husband would quit them, as she be- 
lieved it was all false and a delusion. To which I heard Mr. Harris 
reply, * What if it is a lie ; if you will let me alone I will make 
money out of it ! ' I was both an eye and an ear witness of what 
has been stated above, which is now fresh in my memory, and I 
give it to the world for the good of mankind. I speak the truth 
and lie not, God bearing me witness. 

" Abigail Harris." 



154 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Isaac Hale, of Harmony, Pa., with whose daughter the 
Prophet eloped, did not, as will be seen by what follows, hold his 
son-in-law in very high esteem. Joseph seems also not to have 
made a favorable impression either upon his brother-in-law, Alva 
Hale, or upon a number of others whose statements are ap- 
pended : 

Harmony, Pa., March 20, 1834). 

" I first became acquainted with Joseph Smith, Jr., in Novem- 
ber, 1825. He was at that time in the employ of a set of men 
who were called ' money-diggers ' ; and his occupation was that 
of seeing, or pretending to see by means of a stone placed in his 
hat, and his hat closed over his face. In this way he pretended 
to discover minerals and hidden treasure. 

" About this time, young Smith made several visits at my 
house, and at length asked my consent to his marrying my daugh- 
ter Emma. This I refused, and gave my reasons for so doing ; 
some of which were, that he was a stranger, and followed a busi- 
ness that I could not approve ; he then left the place. Not long 
after this he returned, and, while I was absent from home, carried 
off my daughter into the State of New York, where they were 
married without my approbation or consent. 

" Soon after this I was infoiTned they had brought a wonder- 
ful book of plates down with them. I was shown a box in which 
it was said they were contained, which had, to all appearance, 
been used as a glass box of the common window glass. I was 
allowed to feel the weight of the box, and they gave me to under- 
stand that the book of plates was then in the box — into which, 
however, I was not allowed to look. 

" I inquired of Joseph Smith, Jr., who was to be the first who 
would be allowed to see the book of plates. He said it was a 
young child. After this I became dissatisfied, and informed him 
that if there was anything in my house of that description, 
which I could not be allowed to see, he must take it away ; if he 
did not, I was determined to see it. After that the plates were 
said to be hid in the woods. 

" About this time Martin Harris made his appearance upon 
the stage; and Smith began to interpret the characters, or 
hieroglyphics which he said were engraven upon the plates, while 
Harris wrote down the interpretation. It was said that Harris 
wrote down one hundred and sixteen pages, and lost them.* 

* They were stolen by his wife while he was sleeping, and burned. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 166 

Soon after this happened, Martin Harris informed me that he 
must have a greater witness, and said that he had talked with 
Joseph about it — Joseph informed him that he could not, or 
durst not show him the plates, but that he (Joseph) would go 
into the woods where the book of plates was, and that after he 
came back Harris should follow his track in the snow, and find the 
book, and examine it for himself. Harris informed me that he 
followed Smith's directions and could not find the plates, and was 
still dissatisfied. 

" The next day after this happened, I went to the house where 
Joseph Smith, Jr., lived, and where he and Harris were engaged 
in their translation of the book. Each of them had a written 
piece of paper which they were comparing, and some of the 
words were, * My servant seeketh a greater witness, but no 
greater witness can be given him.' There was also something 
said about ' three that were to see the thing ' — meaning, I sup- 
posed, the book of plates, and that ' if the three did not 
go exactly according to the orders, the thing would be 
taken from them.' I inquired whose words they were, and 
was informed by Joseph or Emma (I rather think it 
was the former) that they were the words of Jesus Christ. 
I told them that I considered the whole of it a delusion, 
and advised them to abandon it. The manner in which 
he pretended to read and interpret was the same as when 
he looked for the money-diggers, with the stone in his 
hat, and his hat over his face, while the book was at the 
same time hid in the woods. 

" After this, Martin Harris went away, and Oliver Cowdery 
came and wrote for Smith, while he intei*preted, as above de- 
scribed. This is the same Oliver Cowdery whose name may be 
found in the Book of Mormon. Cowdery continued a scribe for 
Smith until the Book of Mormon was completed, as I supposed 
and understood. 

" Joseph Smith, Jr., resided near me for some time after this, 
and I had a good opportunity of becoming acquainted with him, 
and somewhat acquainted with his associates, and I conscienti- 
ously believe, from the facts I have detailed, and from many 
other circumstances, which I do not deem it necessary to relate, 
that the whole * Book of Mormon ' (so called) is a silly fabrica- 
tion of falsehood and wickedness, got up for speculation, and 
with a design to dupe the credulous and unwary — and in order 



156 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

that its fabricators may live upon the spoils of those who swallow 
the deception. 

" Isaac Hale." 

" Affirmed to and subscribed before me, March 20, 1834<. 

" Charles Dimon, 
" Justice of the Peace" 

" Alva Hale, son of Isaac Hale, states that Joseph Smith, Jr., 
told him that his (Smith's) gift in seeing with a stone and hat, 
' was a gift from God,' but also states * that Smith told him, at 
another time, that this peeping was all d — d nonsense. He 
(Smith) was deceived himself, but did not intend to deceive 
others ; that he intended to quit the business (of peeping) and 
labor for his livelihood.' That afterward Smith told him he 
should see the plates from which he translated the Book of Mor- 
mon, and accordingly, at the time specified by Smith, he (Hale) 
called to see the plates, but Smith did not show them, but ap- 
peared angry. He further states that he knows Joseph Smith, 
Jr., to be an impostor and a liar, and knows Martin Harris to 
be a liar likewise. 

" Levi Lewis states, that he has been acquainted with Joseph 
Smith, Jr., and Martin Harris, and that he has heard them both 
say adultery was no crime. Harris said he did not blame 
Smith for his (Smith's) attempt to seduce E. W., etc. Mr. 
Lewis says that he knows Smith to be a liar; — that he saw 
him (Smith) intoxicated at three different times while he was 
composing the Book of Mormon, and also that he has heard 
Smith, when driving oxen, use language of the greatest profan- 
ity. Mr. Lewis also testifies, that he heard Smith say he 
(Smith) was as good as Jesus Christ; — that it was as bad to 
injure him as it was to injure Jesus Christ. With regard to the 
plates. Smith said God had deceived him — which was the reason 
he (Smith) did not show them. 

" Sophia Lewis certifies, that she heard a conversation between 
Joseph Smith, Jr., and the Rev. James B. Roach, in which Smith 
called Mr. R. a d — d fool. Smith also said in the same con- 
versation, that he (Smith) was as good as Jesus Christ; and that 
she has frequently heard Smith use profane language. She 
states that she heard Smith say the book of plates could not be 
opened under penalty of death, by any other person but his 
(Smith's) first-bom, which was to be a male. She says she was 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 157 

present at the birth of this child, and that it was still-bom and 
very much deformed." 

The manuscript of the Book of Mormon was at last completed ; 
somewhere, somehow, either in New York or Pennsylvania, and 
with or without the assistance of Martin Harris. With its 
completion arose the question of printing and publishing. Har- 
ris was enthusiastically in favor of giving the new revelation 
to the world. As he was expected to furnish means to pay the 
printer, and as he was, perhaps, the only genuine believer in the 
doctrines to be promulgated, his wishes were seconded by Smith, 
Rigdon, and Cowdery. But cupidity was about as strong an 
element in his composition as credulity, and so the honest and 
benevolent, but money-loving farmer, proposed to avail himself 
of the wisdom of others before embarking in the publication 
scheme. He first consulted his wife, a Quakeress, with a mind 
of her own, from whom he got, as men usually do from similar 
sources, the very best kind of counsel and admonition. She de- 
nounced the whole scheme as silly and impious, and told him he 
was being imposed upon, and likely to be defrauded. Bums 
has told us 

*' How many lengthened, sage advices, 
The husband frae the wife despises." 

Harris called her a fool and a woman (she could pardon the 
first designation, but not the last), and he said: " What if it is a 
fraud, so long as I make money out of it.'* " Like most persons 
who seek advice, he only wanted such as comported with his 
own preconceived notions. 

Discarding the counsel of his faithful wife, he determined to 
avail himself of the " wisdom of learned men " relative to the 
genuineness of the plates and the revelation inscribed thereon. 
He first consulted the village jeweler and silversmith, describing 
to him gold leaves of a certain size, thickness, and weight, and 
asked what they would be worth if genuine. The computation 
was made, but seems not to have been wholly satisfactory. To 
make assurance doubly sure, he obtained from Smith several 
pages of antique characters or hieroglyphics purporting to be 
exact copies from the golden plates, together with the transla- 
tion thereof, and with them repaired to New York where he 
solicited the scrutiny of a number of gentlemen whose repute as 



158 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

biblical scholars was so current as to have reached the crafty 
backwoodsman. Believing the farmer, though otherwise, ap- 
parently, a man of sound judgment, to be a religious monomaniac, 
they scouted the whole thing as too absurd for serious considera- 
tion, and commiserated him as a victim of fanaticism and fraud. 
Harris, however, stood firmly by his belief, and returned their 
commiseration four-fold, declaring them to be " a stiff-necked 
and rebellious generation," and quoting against them one of his 
favorite texts, that " God hath chosen the foolish things of the 
world to confound the wise." What one of the scholars applied 
to by Harris thought of Joseph's golden phylacteries and the 
hieroglyphics thereon is plainly set forth in the following letter : 

" New York, Feb. 17, 1834. 
" The whole story about my having pronounced the Mormonite 
inscription to be ' reformed Egyptian hieroglyphics ' is perfectly 
false. Some years ago, a plain, and, apparently, simple-hearted 
farmer, called upon me, with a note from Dr. Mitchell, of our 
city, now deceased, requesting me to decipher, if possible, a paper 
which the farmer would hand me, and which Dr. M. confessed 
he had been unable to understand. Upon examining the paper 
in question, I soon came to the conclusion that it was all a trick, 
perhaps a hoax. When I asked the person who brought it how 
he obtained the writing, he gave me, as far as I can now recollect, 
the following account : — A ' gold book,' consisting of a number 
of plates of gold, fastened together in the shape of a book by 
wires of the same metal, had been dug up in the northern part of 
the State of New York, and, along with the book, an enormous 
pair of ' gold spectacles ! ' These spectacles were so large, that 
if a person attempted to look through them his two eyes would 
have to be turned toward one of the glasses, merely, the spectacles 
in question being altogether too large for the breadth of the 
human face. Whoever examined the plates through the spec- 
tacles was enabled not only to read them, but fully to understand 
their meaning. All this knowledge, however, was confined at 
that time to a young man who had the trunk containing the 
book and spectacles in his sole possession. This young man was 
placed behind a curtain, in the garret of a farm house, and, 
being thus concealed from view, put on the spectacles occasion- 
ally, or rather looked through one of the glasses, deciphered the 
characters in the book, and having committed some of them to 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 169 

paper, handed copies from behind the curtain to those who stood 
on the outside. Not a word, however, was said about the plates 
having been deciphered ' by the gift of God.' Everything, in 
this way, was effected by the large pair of spectacles. The 
farmer added, that he had been requested to contribute a sum of 
money toward the publication of the * golden book,' the contents 
of which would, as he had been assured, produce an entire change 
in the world, and save it from ruin. So urgent had been these 
solicitations, that he intended selling his farm and handing over 
the amount received to those who wished to publish the plates. 
As a last precautionary step, however, he had resolved to come 
to New York and obtain the opinion of the learned about the 
meaning of the paper which he brought with him, and which had 
been given him as a part of the contents of the book, although 
no translation had been furnished at the time by the young man 
with the spectacles. On hearing this odd story, I changed my 
opinion about the paper, and instead of viewing it any longer as 
a hoax upon the learned, I began to regard it as part of a 
scheme to cheat the farmer of his money, and I communicated my 
suspicions to him, warning him to beware of rogues. He re- 
quested an opinion from me in writing, which, of course, I de- 
clined giving, and he then took his leave, carrying the paper with 
him. This paper was, in fact, a singular scrawl. It consisted 
of all kinds of crooked characters, disposed in columns, and had 
evidently been prepared by some person who had before him, at 
the time, a book containing various alphabets. Greek and He- 
brew letters, crosses and flourishes, Roman letters inverted or 
placed sideways, were arranged in perpendicular columns, and 
the whole ended in a rude delineation of a circle divided into 
various compartments, decked with various strange marks, and 
evidently copied after the Mexican calendar, given by Humboldt, 
but copied in such a way as not to betray the source whence it 
was derived. I am thus particular, as to the contents of the 
paper, inasmuch as I have frequently conversed with my friends 
on the subject since the Mormonite excitement began, and well 
remember that the paper contained anything else but * Egyp- 
tian hieroglyphics.' Some time after, the farmer paid me a 
second visit. He brought with him the * golden book ' in print, 
and offered it to me for sale. I declined purchasing. He then 
asked permission to leave the book with me for examination. I 
declined receiving it, although his manner was strangely urgent. 



160 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

I adverted once more to the roguery which had been, in my opin- 
ion, practised upon him, and asked him what had become of the 
gold plates. He informed me that they were in a trunk with 
the large pair of spectacles. I advised him to go to a magis- 
trate and have the trunk examined. He said the ' curse of 
God ' would come upon him should he do this. On my pressing 
him, however, to pursue the course which I had recommended, 
he told me that he would open the trunk if I would take the 
* curse of God ' upon myself. I replied that I would do so with 
the greatest willingness, and would incur every risk of that 
nature, provided I could only extricate him from the grasp of 
rogues. He then left me. 

" I have thus given you a full statement of all that I know 
respecting the origin of Mormonism, and must beg you, as a 
personal favor, to publish this letter immediately, should you 
find my name mentioned again by these wretched fanatics. 

" Yours respectfully, Charles Anthon." 

The plain talk of Professor Anthon availed nothing with the 
farmer. He returned to Palmyra more intent than ever upon 
spreading abroad the good tidings which he firmly believed were 
contained in the Book of Mormon. But for his faith and 
fanaticism, the golden legend might never have been given to 
mankind, for he was the only person of means and credit who 
had embraced the new doctrine. Accordingly, with a view to 
printing and publication, Joseph Smith, his brother Hyrum, 
Oliver Cowdery, and Harris, paid a visit early in the summer of 
1829 to Egbert Grandin, at that time a printer in Palmyra, and 
publisher of the Wayne Sentinel, and asked his price for print- 
ing and binding one edition of three thousand copies of the work. 
Harris would guarantee payment if a satisfactory bargain 
could be struck. Mr. Grandin declined positively to entertain 
the proposal, and in the presence of the Smiths and Cowdery, 
advised Harris, who was his friend, to have nothing to do with 
the inchoate revelation. His admonition was kindly received 
but stubbornly dismissed by Harris, and resented with pious in- 
dignation by the Smiths and Cowdery. A number of the friends 
and neighbors of Harris tried to dissuade him from his pur- 
pose, and for a time he seemed to waver in his confidence regard- 
ing the legend, but the Prophet was a spell-binder, and his arts 
were crowned with ultimate success. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 161 

Mr. Grandin having refused to reconsider his determination, 
though earnestly entreated to do so, application was next made 
to Thurlow Weed, then editor and publisher of an Anti-Masonic 
paper in Rochester, and several sheets of the manuscript were 
submitted to him, with a statement of the whole number required 
to be printed and bound. What Mr. Weed thought of the 
scheme is here given in his own words. He says : " After read- 
ing a few chapters, it seemed such a jumble of unintelligible 
absurdities that we refused the work, advising Harris not to 
mortgage his farm and beggar his family." Mr. E. F. Mar- 
shall, of Rochester, was then applied to, and gave terms for 
printing and binding the book, agreeing to accept Harris as 
security for payment. With this estimate. Smith and his com- 
panions returned to Palmyra, and assuring Mr, Grandin that the 
work would be printed by Marshall if he further declined it 
begged him to reconsider his determination, and save them much 
inconvenience and cost of travel, by doing it near their homes, as 
the manuscript was to be delivered at the office in the morning 
and after examination of proof taken away daily ; they holding it 
to be sacred, and not to be left in worldly hands. Upon this state- 
ment of their case, Mr. Grandin, after advising with a number 
of his discrete and fair-minded townsmen, agreed to print and 
bind five thousand copies of the Book of Mormon for the sum of 
three thousand dollars, taking a bond and mortgage on the farm 
of Harris as security for payment. The contract was carried 
out to the satisfaction of all parties, and the complete edition 
was delivered early in the summer of 1830. 

A difficulty was encountered during the progress of the work 
which worried the Saints not a little. In endeavoring to con- 
vince his wife of the desirability of assisting in " the work of the 
Lord," Harris had taken to his house and shown her one 
hundred and sixteen pages of the manuscript, probably that 
portion which he had helped to copy. The gentle dame, acting 
in what she believed to be — and really was — her own and her 
husband's interest, crept softly out of bed " in the dead watch 
and middle of the night," whilst Martin Harris " in holy matri- 
mony snored away," and reduced the writing to ashes. This 
she kept a profound secret until after the book was published. 
Tricksters are the first to suspect trickery. Smith and Harris 
believed the manuscript to have been stolen by wicked and de- 
signing men, intent upon bringing God's will to naught, and 



162 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

suspected Mrs. Harris of being their accomplice. In the en- 
deavor to extort a confession from her by Harris, a quarrel 
arose, and their relations as husband and wife were sundered, 
never to be renewed. This incident clearly establishes the fact 
that the Book of Mormon was not a translation from golden or 
any other plates in the possession of the Prophet. Had it been, 
they would simply have been obliged to supply the missing pages 
by a retranslation. But fearing these were still in existence 
and might be brought forward to show that their work was not 
a translation of the revealed will of the Most High, but the craft 
of knaves, they simply ignored that portion of it altogether. 
Had they undertaken to rewrite it from memory, comparisons 
might have shown the odious fact that the Supreme Will was 
changeable. 

The Book of Mormon was launched, but was not favored by 
prospering gales. To transfer the simile to terra firma, the 
seed fell upon a rocky and barren soil. The godly regarded it 
as little less than impious; as a travesty (which, in fact, it was) 
of the book they revered; and the unregenerate scoffed. The 
result was that outside of the Saints, who numbered less than a 
score, and perhaps another score whose curiosity led them to buy 
it, it was dead lumber on the printer's shelves. Harris' fine 
farm, about two miles from Palmyra village, was sold — by 
private sale, not by foreclosure — to pay the printer. The his- 
torian is pleased to state that Mrs. Harris declined to join in 
the mortgage, and that upon her separation from her husband, 
eighty acres of land, with comfortable buildings, were set off for 
her personal use and behoof. It may be mentioned that, while 
unalterably hostile to her husband's fanatical action, she held 
Mr. Grandin fully justified, under the circumstances, in under- 
taking the printing contract. The maid with the milking pail 
has many prototypes of the sterner sex in the business world. 
This is the way Harris counted his unhatched chickens; 5,000 
books at $1.25 per copy, is $6,250 ; cost of printing and binding, 
$3,000; net profit $3,250, or more than 100 per cent.; how the 
thing resulted has already been shown. It may be added that 
when the Smiths were overtaken — as they often were — 
by those dire necessities known as food and raiment, they 
bartered the sacred volumes to supply those needs, and in some 
cases at a considerable discount from the trade price, although 
Harris had been promised a monopoly of the sales until he was 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 163 

reimbursed, and the penalty of instant death had been denounced 
against anyone who should sell the work for less than a dollar 
and a quarter. But though despised and rejected by the friends 
and neighbors of the Prophet, the Book of Mormon has since 
gone through many editions, and has been translated into a num- 
ber of foreign languages. Truly, " a prophet is not without 
honor save in his own country, and in his own house." The 
title page is as follows : 

"THE 
" BOOK OF MORMON ; 

** AN ACCOUNT WRITTEN BY THE HAND OF MORMON, UPON PLATES 
TAKEN FROM THE PLATES OF NEPHI. 

" Wherefore it is an abridgment of the Record of the people 
of Nephi ; and also of the Lamanites ; written to the Lamanites, 
which are a remnant of the House of Israel; and also to Jew 
and Gentile; written by way of commandment, and also by the 
spirit of prophecy and of Revelation. Written, and sealed up, 
and hid up unto the Lord, that they might not be destroyed ; to 
come forth by the gift and power of God unto the interpretation 
thereof ; sealed by the hand of Moroni, and hid up unto the Lord, 
to come forth in due time by the way of Gentile ; the interpreta- 
tion thereof by the gift of God: an abridgment taken from the 
Book of Ether. 

" Also, which is a Record of the People of Jared, which were 
scattered at the time the Lord confounded the language of the 
people when they were building a tower to get to Heaven ; which 
is to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel how great 
things the Lord hath done for their fathers ; and that they may 
know the covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off for- 
ever; and also to the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that 
Jesus is the Christ, the External God, manifesting himself unto 
all nations. And now if there be fault, it be the mistake of men ; 
wherefore condemn not the things of God, that ye may be found 
spotless at the judgment seat of Christ. 

" By Joseph Smith, Junior, 

" Author and Proprietor. 

" Palmyra : 

" Printed by E. B. Grandin, for the Author. 

" 1830." 



164 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

The absurdity of calling Smith the author of a Divine revela- 
tion was omitted in revised editions printed at Nauvoo and Salt 
Lake. The first edition contained the following cautionary 
notice, having reference to the manuscript burned by Mrs. 
Harris : 

" To the Reader — 

" As many false reports have been circulated respecting the 
following work, and also many unlawful measures taken by evil- 
designing persons to destroy me, and also the work, I would in- 
form you that I translated, by the gift and power of God, and 
caused to be written, one hundred and sixteen pages, the which I 
took from the Book of Lehi, which was an account abridged 
from the plates of Lehi, by the hand of Mormon ; which said ac- 
count some person or persons have stolen and kept from me, 
notwithstanding my utmost exertions to recover it again — 
and being commanded of the Lord that I should not 
translate the same over again, for Satan had put it into 
their hearts to tempt the Lord their God, by altering the 
words, that they did read contrary from that which I 
translated and caused to be written; and if I should bring 
forth the same words again, or, in other words, if I should 
translate the same over again, they would publish that 
which they had stolen, and Satan would stir up the hearts 
of this generation, that they might not receive this work: 
but behold, the Lord said unto me, I will not suffer that 
Satan shall accomplish his evil design in this thing; there- 
fore thou shalt translate from the plates of Nephi, until 
ye come to that which ye have translated, which ye have 
retained, and behold, ye shall publish it as the record of 
Nephi; and thus I will confound those who have altered 
my words. I will not suffer that they shall destroy my 
work; yea, I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater 
than the cunning of the devil. Wherefore, to be obedient unto 
the commandments of God, I have, through His grace and mercy, 
accomplished that which He hath commanded me respecting this 
thing. I would also inform you that the plates of which hath 
been spoken, were found in the township of Manchester, Ontario 
County, New York. 

The Author. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 165 

CONTENTS OF THE BOOK OF MORMON. 

No. of 
Chapters 

The first book of Nephi, 7 

The second book of Nephi, 15 

The book of Jacob, the brother of Nephi, 5 

The book of Enos, 1 

The book of Jarom, 1 

The book of Omni, 1 

The words of Mormon, 1 

The book of Mosiah, 13 

The book of Alma, SO 

The book of Helamon, 6 

The book of Nephi, who was the son of Helamon, ... 14 
The book of Nephi, who is the son of Nephi, one of the dis- 
ciples of Jesus Christ, 1 

Book of Mormon, -4 

Book of Ether, 6 

The Book of Moroni, 10 

The corner stone of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints may 
be said to have been laid by the publication of the Gold Bible, 
but the superstructure was not raised in the Genesee Country. 
A few meetings were held in the log cabin of the Prophet, at 
which neither singing, prayer, or preaching were attempted, 
the exercises being limited to readings from the new bible, with 
interpretations and comments by Joseph. The Rev. Sidney 
Rigdon preached one sermon in Palmyra, in the hall of the 
Young Men's Association. Martin Harris vainly endeavored to 
secure a church for this performance. Christian people re- 
garded the Mormons as blasphemers, and their services as little 
short of rank impiety. Pomeroy Tucker, who listened to the 
sermon, thus describes his impressions : " Altogether, though 
evidencing some talent and ingenuity in its matter and manner, 
and delivered with startHng boldness and seeming sincerity, the 
performance was, in the main, an unintelligible jumble of quota- 
tions, assertions, and obscurities, which was received by the 
audience as shockingly blasphemous as it was painful to hear. 
The manifestations of disfavor were so unequivocal that Harris 
assented to the suggestion of his " Gentile " friends, that no 
further request be made for the use of the hall, and regular 
preaching on the Mormon plan was never again attempted in 



166 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Palmyra by Rigdon or any other man, according to my recol- 
lection." * 

The reception of the new doctrine was not at all satisfactory 
to the Saints. Financially, it was a failure, and Joe's assertion 
that he had invented a scheme by which he could live without 
work seemed likely to prove fallacious. The seed indeed fell 
upon stony ground. The majority of Smith's neighbors were 
orthodox, devout, God-fearing men, to whom the new doctrine 
seemed sacrilegious. The remainder was composed of those who, 
finding it hard to believe the myths, miracles, and fables of the 
Scriptures, yet preserved a reverent attitude toward all honestly 
entertained beliefs, and those occasional agnostics who, rejecting 
all revelation, and especially the last one, maintained toward 
Smith and his followers an attitude of jeering but not ill-natured 
hostility. A community so composed did not furnish material 
for successful proselytizing. Not more than thirty heads of 
families had embraced the faith up to the time a removal west- 
ward had been resolved on. But among the converts was a man 
of signal influence and ability, the Rev. Parley P. Pratt, of 
Loraine County, Ohio, who debarked from a canal boat at Pal- 
myra long enough to espouse the new faith, and remained for 
many years one of the pillars of the Morman hierarchy. Rigdon 
and Pratt " Prepared the way of the Lord " by preaching the 
new doctrine at Mentor and Kirtland, Ohio, where it was more 
favorably received than in the neighborhood of its origin. In 
the later part of the year 1830, the Smiths, Cowdery, Harris, 
the Whitmers, and other original Latter-Day Saints, shaking the 
dust from their shoes as a testimony against the Gentiles of the 
Genesee, prepared for their hegira to Ohio. 

Just at this juncture it became evident that an unmarried 
sister of the Prophet would before very long make a contribution 
to the census of that year. Joe immediately had a revelation 
from on high that the conception was immaculate, and that the 
Gentile world was to be astonished by the birth of a new Prophet, 
Priest, and King. Martin Harris and the others loudly inquired, 
" Why not? " A question much easier to ask than to answer. If 
this thing could happen in the first century, why not in the nine- 
teenth.'' "The power of the Highest shall overshadow thee," 
might as well be spoken to a Gentile maiden in Western New 

* This reminds me of the low comedian who said he had played King Lear, 
but never twice in the same city. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 167 

York as to a Jewish one in Nazareth! To gainsay this is to 
deny to the Deity the first and greatest of his attributes — om- 
nipotence. No one beheving in the first advent could deny the 
possibihty of a second, and the probabiHties in either case seem 
about evenly balanced. But there were people ungenerous 
enough to allude to the fact that the Rev. Sidney Rigdon had 
been an inmate of the Smith family at various times for more 
than a year. Proceeding from scoffers and the unregenerate, 
such allusions were held by the Saints to be no reproach. How- 
ever begotten, the child was a female, and hved but a few hours. 
The Prophet satisfied Harris and the others by telling them that 
Divine wrath had, in this way, punished some act of Mormon 
disobedience. 

Reinforced by the arrivals from Wayne and Ontario counties, 
and by the active labors of Smith, Harris, Cowdery, and the 
others, the ministrations of Pratt and Rigdon were blessed by 
the ingathering of more than a hundred converts to the new 
revelation, and Kirtland, for a time became the chief seat of the 
Mormon colony, and it was here that their Church was thor- 
oughly organized and established. Here Brigham Young, 
the great ruler and organizer, the man who, after the death of the 
Prophet, swayed with autocratic power the destinies of the hier- 
archy, was converted and joined the society in 1832. The State 
of Vermont has the honor, if any it be, of being the birthplace of 
the founder of the ]\Iormon faith, and of his much abler succes- 
sor. Brigham's early training was on his father's farm, 
among the green hills. On his removal to the State of New York, 
he followed the trade of a painter and glazier, which was his 
occupation when he joined the Mormons at Kirtland, in 1832. 
A bom leader, with an intuitive knowledge of human character, 
capable of swaying masses of men by the power of an electric 
will. Young, from the start, was an influential and prominent 
man in Mormon affairs. When the High Council of the Church, 
consisting of twelve high priests, was organized, Young was 
ordained one of the number, and soon after was elected president 
of the Council. Had his ambition led him to supersede Smith, 
there is little doubt that he could have done so, but Mormonism 
was yet an experiment, and he bided his time. And here at 
Kirtland the Church was strengthened by the admission to mem- 
bership of two of its ablest advocates and defenders, Orson Pratt 
and Orson Hyde. 



168 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

The Church being now organized and established, the next move 
of the Prophet was to secure funds for its endowment and sup- 
port, and here the system of tithing was adopted, which, en- 
larged and strengthened by Young, has been continued up to the 
present time. Ex-Governor Harding, of Utah, says : " Every- 
thing is subject to this system, from the tenth egg to the tenth 
ox, from the tenth cent to the tenth dollar; the poor girl who 
works out by the week and the rich farmer and money-lender 
being alike subject to this indiscriminate levy ' in the Lord's 
name.' " The revelations to Joseph on this head were numerous 
and to the point. Here is one of them : " In answer to the ques- 
tion, ' O, Lord, show unto thy servants how much thou requirest 
of the properties for a tithing ? ' verily thus saith the Lord : ' I 
require all the surplus property to be put into the hands of the 
bishop of my Church of Zion, for the building of mine house, and 
for the priesthood, and for the debts of the presidency of my 
Church, and tliis shall be the beginning of the yearly tithing of 
my people,* et cetera." No circumlocution about that. An- 
other revelation directs " That all the monies which can be 
spared, it mattereth not whether it be little or much, be sent up to 
the land of Zion, unto those whom I have appointed to receive ; " 
and another declares that " Those which shall not observe this 
law [of tithing] shall not be found worthy to abide among you." 
Still another commands the faithful to " Build a house in which 
my servant Joseph shall live and translate, and to furnish and 
support the same, it being my will that my servant shall 
live without labor." Joe had at last solved the problem how to 
escape the penalty denounced against Adam. And not this 
alone: stimulated by revelations which his dupes sincerely be- 
lieved to be Divine emanations they erected at Kirtland a temple 
which cost, in money and freely contributed labor and materials, 
over fifty thousand dollars. A dwelling for the Prophet was 
built and furnished, and money and valuable personal property 
flowed in from the system of tithes. He established a bank, 
built a flouring mill, and opened a store. 

Notwithstanding these appearances of prosperity and perma- 
nency, it soon became evident that Kirtland was not to be the 
abiding place of the Saints. They did not live upon good terms 
with their neighbors. The orthodoxy of Northern Ohio exe- 
crated and spat upon the Mormon creed, and scorned the im- 
postors who originated it. Aside from questions of belief, the 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 169 

Saints were accused of immoral and criminal practices, contrary 
to good order and good neighborhood. The demeanor of the 
leaders was exasperating and defiant. As in the case of an Irish 
coachman who had helped to disperse a parade of Orangemen and 
returned to his duties bearing upon his person visible signs of 
the encounter, and who was asked by his employer why the love 
of God made him hate his neighbor, and why he could not con- 
cede to others what he demanded for himself — freedom of opin- 
ion? " ' Dade, sor," was the reply, " It was not their religion at 
all, at all, that roused me passion. It was the Irrltatin' music ; " 
the band was playing the " Battle of the Boyne " as they passed 
by. — And so It was, perhaps, the " Irrltatin' " bearing of the 
Saints, rather than their teachings, which, at Kirtland and else- 
where during their long career, made them objects of popular 
opprobrium. 

Whatever may have been their reasons for removal, the com- 
munity, after a sojourn of less than two years in Ohio, decided 
that the promised land was nearer the setting sun, and deter- 
mined upon a change of locality. RIgdon and Cowdery were 
sent forth as explorers, and on their return from an extended 
tour, reported In favor of the State of Missouri as the future 
home and ZIon of the faithful. The Prophet having visited and 
approved of the locality selected, a revelation to his followers 
commanded them to " Remove unto the land appointed and con- 
secrated for the gathering of the Saints, wherefore this is the 
land of promise, and the place for the City of Zion. Behold, 
the place now called Independence Is in the center, and the spot 
for the temple Is lying westward upon a lot not far from the 
Court House; wherefore, it Is wisdom that the land should be 
purchased by my people, and also my tract lying westward, even 
unto the line running between the Lamanlte and Gentile, and also 
my tract bordering by the prairies, inasmuch as my disciples are 
enabled to buy land." They are further directed to " send up 
treasures " and are promised " an inheritance In this world," 
and that " their works shall follow them." Need it be told that 
a large tract of land was selected and purchased, a town site 
laid out which the energy and self-sacrificing Industry of these 
people soon built up, and early in 1834 a majority of the breth- 
ren had become residents of the flourishing town of Independ- 
ence, Jackson County, Missouri. A few, however, chiefly those 
with families and material interests, remained at Kirtland to 



170 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

work farms, dispose of them and other property, and better pre- 
pare for removal to the new colony. Among those who tarried 
in Ohio were Pratt and Young. After seeing the new settle- 
ment well under way. Smith returned and joined them, for the 
purpose, he said, of " making money for the benefit of the 
Church." Having a commodious, well-furnished dwelling, a 
bank, a mill, and a store, he was in no hurry to part with them, 
evidently thinking they were the result of his own business 
capacity, and not what they really were, the creation of revela- 
tions and tithes. The outcome was soon reached. His bank 
exploded, his mill stopped, and the shutters were put up at his 
store and not taken down. Secularly he was a failure. With- 
out a hundred credulous fools to pour into his lap one-tenth of 
all their earnings he would have starved in the streets or have 
gone back to fishing, fortune-telUng, and trapping for a living. 
Popular indignation rose high at Kirtland against him and his 
religious pretensions. Hastily collecting his portable effects, 
and disposing to the best advantage of those which could not be 
removed, he departed for the promised land in Missouri. Young 
fled with him. This was in 1835. The panic of 1836-37 struck 
Joseph a year in advance. In 1838, he and Rigdon, being at 
Kirtland together, were arrested on charges of swindling in 
connection with their wild-cat bank and other fraudulent schemes. 
They escaped from the sheriff at night and made their way to 
Missouri on horseback. Smith's account of the affair, as pub- 
lished in the Mormon newspaper at Independence, was to the 
effect that they " left Kirtland to escape mob violence, with 
which they were threatened under color of legal process, and were 
followed more than two hundred miles by hellhounds armed with 
knives and pistols." 

The Saints' rest was not found in Missouri. Their neighbors 
in that State were, to a great extent, a different people from 
those left behind in Western New York and Northern Ohio. The 
Missourians of that period can hardly be called an orthodox 
and law-abiding people. The rougher elements of border civiliz- 
ation were prominent if not predominant, and with these the 
Saints were soon in collision. It requires no prophet to foretell 
the result. After a few years of almost continuous warfare 
with the citizens and public authorities of the State, in which 
blood was shed on both sides, the Mormons were banished. There 
is little doubt that they were badly treated. Missouri had no 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 171 

right to interfere with their form of worship, and if her statutes 
were broken or disregarded, punishment should have been meeted 
out under the forms of law and not by mob violence. But the 
Mormons had to go, and did go, and on this occasion they went 
east instead of west. Before tracing them to their new homes 
in Illinois, let us hear some of the reasons given for their ex- 
pulsion from Missouri. General Clark, commander of the State 
militia, in a dispatch to Gov. Baggs, dated November 10, 1838, 
said : " There is no crime from treason down to petit larcency, 
but these people, or a majority of them, have been guilty of — 
all, too, under the counsel of Joseph Smith, Jr., their Prophet. 
They have committed treason, murder, arson, burglary, robbery, 
larceny, and perjury. They have formed societies to circum- 
vent the laws and put them at defiance, and to plunder, bum, and 
murder and divide the spoils for the use of their Church." A 
formidable indictment, truly, and drawn with genuine South- 
western luridity! Let us further hear from the Governor on 
this subject. In a special communication to the Legislature, 
after the Mormons had been assisted over the border, he says: 
" These people had violated the laws of the land by open force 
and avowed resistance to them ; they had undertaken, without 
the aid of the civil authority, to redress their real or fancied 
grievances ; they had instituted among themselves a government 
of their own, independent of and in opposition to the government 
of this State, that had, at an inclement season of the year, 
driven the inhabitants of an entire county from their homes, 
ravaged their crops and destroyed their dwellings.* Under 
these circumstances it became the imperious (?) duty of the 
Executive to interfere and exercise the powers with which he 
was (?) invested, to protect the lives and property of our citi- 
zens, to restore order and tranquillity to the country, and main- 
tain the supremacy of the laws." And let us also hear what an 
unprejudiced historian has to say anent these troubles: "By 
enlightened people the Mormons were regarded as the victims 
of misguided vengeance in Missouri. The ruffianly violence 
they met at the hands of lawless mobs, in several instances re- 
sulting in dehberate murder, finds no extenuation in any real 
provocation. Due process of law afforded adequate redress for 
any criminalities of which they might be found guilty after 

* What were the ancestors of the James and Younger boys doing all this time ? 



172 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

legal trial."* But they had to go. Time was not even given 
them to settle up their affairs. So determined were the people of 
Missouri to be rid of them, that commissioners were appointed 
by the Governor to sell their property, pay their debts, and aid 
them in getting away. The Legislature appropriated two thou- 
sand dollars for this purpose, and liberal contributions to hasten 
their exodus were made by individuals. 

By the end of 1839, the Saints had established themselves at 
a point on the Mississippi River, in Hancock County, Illinois, 
which they named Nauvoo. As usually happens, persecution 
seemed to replenish their ranks, and inflame their zeal. Reve- 
lations fell thick and fast from the pen of the Prophet, and 
money, material, and labor flowed in abundantly. In less than 
two years a handsome town was built on the banks of the great 
river, and its inhabitants were generally well received by the 
people of the surrounding country. In 1842 a liberal city 
charter was granted to Nauvoo by the Legislature of Illinois. 
The privilege of organizing a strong military force was among 
the extraordinary powers conceded by this charter. An armed 
force of over 4,000 men was enrolled by the Prophet, who took 
command with the title of General. He evidently did not intend 
to be again driven forth by hostile neighbors. The church mili- 
tant was henceforth to be the church triumphant. Mormonism 
now flourished as never before. Accessions poured in from all 
quarters at home and from abroad. Pratt and Young had been 
sent to Europe to proselytize and spread the new gospel. In the 
spring of 1841, Young embarked at Liverpool with 769 of the 
faithful for the promised land, and additions from that source 
continue up to the present. The number of Saints in Nauvoo at 
this time was estimated to be from 12,000 to 15,000. The Nauvoo 
house was built, " where the weary traveler may find rest and 
health therein." Suites of well-furnished rooms were appropri- 
ated to the use of the Prophet and his family, fi'ce of all ex- 
pense. He was now Commander of the Legion, Mayor of the 
City, and High Priest of the Theocracy. His fortune swelled 
him** to such an extent that he proposed to become a candidate 
for the presidency, and gravely opened a correspondence with 
Messrs. Clay and Calhoun in regard to the policy he ought to 

* Pomeroy Tucker's *' History of Mormonism." 

** " His fortune swells him — its rank he's married," says Sir Giles Overreach 
in the play. Joe was very much married. 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 173 

pursue if elected. Describing his position at this time, Mr. 
Tucker says : " From the vagabondish, taciturn * Joe Smith ' at 
the inception of the Mormon scheme, he had become the rubi- 
cund, genial, affluent, autocrat Prophet of 220 pounds avoirdu- 
pois, with forty wives, all told."* The same season that saw 
the completion of the Nauvoo house witnessed the laying of the 
corner stone of a temple which cost, when finished, a million dol- 
lars. How the money was raised for these structures may be 
learned from the following revelations to the people through 
their Prophet. Though alleged to proceed from on high, they 
are not couched in either good or grammatical language, but are 
very much to the point in their chief ob j ect — the raising of money : 

" And again, verily I say unto you, my servant George Miller 
is without guile, he may be trusted because of the integrity of his 
heart ; and for the love which he has to my testimony ; I the Lord 
loveth him. I therefore say unto you, I seal upon his head the 
office of a bishopric, like unto my servant Edward Partridge, 
that he may receive the consecrations of mine house, that he may 
administer blessings upon the heads of the poor of my people, saith 
the Lord. Let no man despise my servant George, for he shall honor 
me. Let my servant George, and my servant Lyman, and my 
servant John Snider, and others, build a house unto my name, 
such a one as my servant Joseph shall show unto them, upon 
the place which he shall show unto them also. And it shall be 
for a house of boarding, a house that strangers may come from 
afar to lodge therein — therefore let it be a good house, worthy 
of all acceptation, that the weary traveler may find health and 
safety, while he shall contemplate the word of the Lord, and the 
corner stone I have appointed for Zion. This house shall be a 
healthy habitation, if it be built unto my name, and if the gov- 
ernor which shall be appointed unto it shall not suffer any pollu- 
tion to come upon it. It shall be holy, or the Lord your God 
will not dwell therein." 

" And again, verily I say unto you, I conmiand you again to 
build a house to my name, even in this place, that ye may prove 
yourselves unto me, that ye are faithful in all things whatsoever 
I command you, that I may bless you, and crown you with 
honor, immortality, and eternal life. 



* Tho revelation permitting spiritual wives was given to the Prophet at 
Nauvoo, in 1843, but polygamy did not become a tenet of the church until 
after the removal to Utah. 



174 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

" And now, I say unto you, as pertaining to my boarding- 
house, which I have commanded you to build for the boarding of 
strangers, let it be built unto my name, and let my name be 
named upon it, and let my servant Joseph and his house have 
place therein from generation to generation. For this anointing 
have I put upon his head, that his blessing shall also be put upon 
the heads of his posterity after him, and as I said unto Abraham, 
concerning the kindreds of the earth, even so, I say unto my 
servant Joseph, in thee, and in thy seed, shall the kindreds of 
the earth be blessed. 

" Therefore, let my servant Joseph, and his seed after him, 
have place in that house from generation to generation for ever 
and ever, saith the Lord, and let the name of that house be called 
the Nauvoo House, and let it be a delightful habitation for man, 
and a resting place for the weary traveler, that he may con- 
template the glory of Zion, and the glory of this the comer stone 
thereof; that he may receive, also, the counsel from those whom 
I have sent to be as plants of renown, and as watchmen upon her 
walls. 

" Behold ! verily I say unto you, let my servant George Miller, 
and my servant Lyman Wright, and my servant John Snider, 
and my servant Peter Hawes, organize themselves, and appoint 
one of them to be a president over their quorum for the purpose 
of building that house. 

" And again, verily I say unto you, if my servant George 
Miller, and my servant Lyman Wright, and my servant John 
Snider, and my servant Peter Hawes, receive any stock into their 
hands, in monies, or in properties wherein they receive the real 
value of monies, they shall not appropriate any portion of that 
stock to any other purpose, only in that house; and if they do 
appropriate any portion of that stock anywhere else, only in 
that house, without the consent of the stockholders, and do not 
repay four-fold, they shall be accursed, and shall be removed 
out of their place saith the Lord God, for I the Lord am God, 
and cannot be mocked in any of these things. 

" Let my servant Vinson Knight lift up his voice long and loud 
in the midst of the people, to plead the cause of the poor and 
needy, and let him not fail, neither let his heart faint, and I will 
accept of his offerings, for they shall not be unto me as the of- 
ferings of Cain, for he shall be mine, saith the Lord. Let his 
family rejoice and turn away their hearts from affliction, for I 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 175 

have chosen and anointed him, and he shall be honored in the 
midst of his house, for I will forgive all his sins, saith the Lord. 
Amen. 

" Let my servant Isaac Galland put stock in that house, for I 
the Lord God loveth him for the work he hath done, and will for- 
give all his sins, therefore let him be remembered for an interest 
in that house from generation to generation. Let my servant 
Isaac Galland be appointed among you, and be ordained by 
my servant William Marks, and be blessed of him, to go with 
my servant Hyrum to accomplish the work that my servant 
Joseph shall point out to them, and they shall be greatly blessed. 

" Let my servant William Law pay stock in that house for him- 
self and his seed after him, from generation to generation. If 
he will do my will let him not take his family unto the eastern 
lands, even unto Kirtland; nevertheless I the Lord will build up 
Kirtland, but I the Lord have a scourge prepared for the in- 
habitants thereof. Let no man go from this place who has 
come here assaying to keep my commandments. If they live 
here, let them live unto me, and if they die, let them die unto 
me ; for they shall rest from all their labors here, and shall con- 
tinue their works. Therefore, let my servant William put his 
trust in me, and cease to fear concerning his family, because of 
the sickness of the land. If ye love me, keep my commandments, 
and the sickness of the land shall redound to your glory." 

The Prophet was now surrounded by all the evidences of 
material and spiritual growth and permanency, and if he and his 
followers had shown a decent respect for the opinions of man- 
kind they might to this day have remained in undisturbed pos- 
session of their new Zion. The revelation from heaven given 
to Joseph in 1843 permitting a plurality of wives, was for a 
long time withheld from the mass of his followers, and was im- 
parted as a secret only to the dignitaries of the Church. By the 
statutes of Illinois bigamy was a crime. The bishops, priests, 
and elders forming the High Council of the hierarchy, alone 
availed themselves of the permission given by revelation, and 
endeavored to " keep on the windy side o' the law " by being 
" sealed " spiritually to their additional helpmeets, instead of 
being married according to usual forms. The people of Illinois 
were not to be hoodwinked by any such euphemistic nonsense as 
this. They held a wife to be a wife, whether spiritual or tempo- 
ral, whether " sealed " or " asked on the banns." The leaders 



176 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

of the Church adopted polygamy, or what was its equivalent, 
with many misgivings. They felt it to be a bold and probably 
a hazardous doctrine. It was a plain infraction of the teachings 
of the Mormon Bible ; that authority says : " Wherefore my 
brethren, hearken unto the word of the Lord : there shall not any 
man among you have, save it be but one wife, and concubines he 
shall have none." A few of the leaders stood by this doctrine 
and opposed the new revelation as heretical and dangerous. The 
Prophet professed great concern of mind, and went through the 
farce of fleeing from the city to avoid being the promulgator 
of the repugnant command. He soon returned with the awful 
tale that he was met by an angel with a flaming sword, who de- 
nounced against him the penalty of instant death if he did not 
return and set forth the new revelation. There is no limit to 
human credulity. This story satisfied all Mormondom. But 
it did not satisfy the people of Illinois, and thenceforward there 
was no peace for those who believed and practised the polygamous 
doctrine until they were driven, root and branch, from the soil of 
the State. 

In previous contests between the Saints and their Gentile 
neighbors, the former had been charged with every crime except 
bigamy, and now that was added, and was the principal cause of 
the riot and bloodshed at Carthage. While it will not be pre- 
tended that either of the parties to the quarrel was wholly right 
or wrong, let us see how far the accusations against the followers 
of the Prophet may be justified by Mormon testimony. Expul- 
sions from the society and published proscriptions began at 
Kirtland. Martin Harris, whose money had laid the foundation 
of the whole miserable fraud, but who was now a squeezed 
orange, was expelled from the Church and, in company with 
others, was posted in the Elders' Journal by Smith as follows: 
** There are negroes who wear white skins as well as black ones ; 
Granus Parish, and others who acted as lackeys, such as Martin 
Harris ; but they are so far beneath contempt that a notice of 
them would be too great a sacrifice for a gentleman to make." 
Yet as long as he had money Harris was prominent in Mormon 
aff'airs, and was certainly a zealous defender of the faith, as the 
following predictions will show : 

" Within four years from September, 1832, there will not be 
one wicked person left in the United States ; that the righteous 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 177 

will be gathered to Zion [Missouri], and that there will be no 
president over these United States after that time. 

" Martin Hakris." 

" I do hereby assert and declare, that in four years from the 
date hereof every sectarian and religious denomination in the 
United States shall be broken down, and every Christian shall be 
gathered unto the Mormonites, and the rest of the human race 
shall perish. If these things do not take place, I will hereby 
consent to have my hand separated from my body. 

" Martin Harris." 

While the INIormons were in Missouri, a paper was drafted 
by Sidney Rigdon, and signed by eighty-four Mormons, the ob- 
ject of which was to drive away the dissenters. It was addressed 
to Oliver Cowdery, David Wliitmer, John Whitmer, William W. 
Phelps, and Lyman E. Johnson. Of these Oliver Cowdery and 
David Whitmer were two of the three witnesses that testified to 
the truth of the Book of Mormon. This paper charges these 
dissenters, viz., Oliver Cowdery, David Whitmer, etc., with mon- 
strous vices and crimes. It states that Cowdery was arrested for 
stealing, and the stolen property was found in the house of 
William W. Phelps, Cowdery having stolen and conveyed it 
there; that they had endeavored to destroy the character 
of Smith and Rigdon by every artifice they could in- 
vent, not even excepting the basest lying; that they had 
disturbed the Mormon meetings of worship by a mob of 
blacklegs ; that Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer united with 
a gang of counterfeiters, thieves, liars, and blacklegs of the 
deepest die, to deceive, cheat, and defraud the Mormons out of 
their property, by every art and stratagem which wickedness 
could invent; using the influence of the vilest persecutions to 
bring vexations and law suits, villainous prosecutions, and even 
stealing not excepted; that Cowdery attempted to sell notes on 
which he had received pay ; that he and David Whitmer swore 
falsely, stole, cheated, lied, sold bogus money (base coin), and 
also stones and sand for bogus ; that letters in the post-oflSce had 
been opened, read and destroyed; and that those same men were 
concerned with a gang of counterfeiters, coiners, and blacklegs." 

Taking their own account of themselves, were the Mormons 
desirable neighbors or good citizens ? 



178 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

That the Prophet himself was not an estimable or law-abiding 
person may be gathered from the following affidavit : " James C. 
Owens testifies that Smith said he cared nothing about the Mis- 
souri troops, nor the laws ; that they were a d — d set, and God 
should d — n them, so help him Jesus Christ ; that he meant to go 
on as he had begun, and take his own course, and kill and destroy ; 
and he told the men to fight like angels ; that heretofore he had 
told them to fight like devils, but now he told them to fight like 
angels — that angels could whip devils ; that God would send 
two angels where they lacked one man. He said they might 
think he was swearing; but that God Almighty would not take 
notice of him in cursing such a d — d set as those were. He said 
they pretended to come out as militia, but that they were all a 
d — d set of mobs. He stated, at one time, that as they had 
commenced consecrating in Davies County, he intended to have 
the surrounding counties consecrated to him; that the time had 
come when the riches of the Gentiles should be consecrated to 
the Saints." 

John Cleminson, clerk of the Caldwell circuit court, testifies 
that the Danites were taught to support the pi'esidency in all 
their designs, right or wrong, and to obey them in all things ; 
and whoever opposed them in what they said or desired to 
have preformed should be expelled from the county, or put to 
death. They were further taught that if any one betrayed the 
secret designs of the Danite society he should be killed and laid 
aside, and nothing should be said about it. When process was 
filed against Smith and others, in witness's office, for trespass, 
Smith told him not to issue a writ ; that he did not intend to sub- 
mit to it ; that he would not suffer it to be issued, etc. ; insomuch 
that witness, knowing the regulation of the Danite band, felt him- 
self intimidated and in danger in case he should issue it. The ob- 
ject of the Mormon expedition to Davies was to drive out all 
the citizens of the county, and get possession of their property. 
It was frequently observed, among the Mormon troops, that the 
time had come when the riches of the Gentiles should be conse- 
crated to the Saints. It was a generally prevailing understand- 
ing among them " that they would oppose either militia or mob, 
should they come out against them ; for they considered them all 
mob at heart." 

In reference to the Mormon dissenters, Dr. Avard, the Danite 
teacher, said : " I will tell you how I will do them ; when I meet 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 179 

one damning the presidency, I can damn them as well as he ; and 
if he wants to drink, I can get a bowl of brandy, and get him 
half drunk; and taking him by the arm, lead him to the 
woods or brush, and be into his guts in a minute, and put him 
under the sod." 

Rigdon, in a sermon, said he would assist in erecting a gallows 
on the square, and hang all the dissenters. Smith was present, 
and followed Rigdon. He spoke of the fate of Judas, and said 
that Peter had hung him ; and that he himself approved of Mr. 
Rigdon's sermon, and considered it a good one. Little did Mr. 
Rigdon think, when breathing forth threatenings and slaughter 
against dissenters, that he himself would, in a short time, be 
expelled from the Church, and " delivered over to the buffetings 
of Satan." Yet so it was. 

Affairs now rapidly drifted toward their fatal termination. 
Smith was charged by a seceding member of the Church with 
alienating the affections of his wife, and "sealing " her unto 
himself, and a suit for damages as well as for the crime of 
bigamy was brought against him by the injured husband. Simi- 
lar charges were also brought against other dignitaries of the 
Church. Attempts to arrest them were resisted by the military 
power under command of the Prophet. The mistake of author- 
izing him to enroll, arm, and equip the Nauvoo Legion was now 
apparent. State troops were called out to enforce obedience to 
law. The situation was critical. Religious fanaticism was in 
hostile array against legal authority, and the worst of all wars 
was impending. Anxious to avoid a collision, the Governor pro- 
posed to Joseph and Hyrum Smith their surrender to 
the sheriff, and the disbandment of their armed followers, as the 
only means of saving their own lives and their city from destruc- 
tion. If this was done, he promised them protection on their 
way to prison, and during their confinement, and an unbiased 
legal investigation of the matters in dispute between them and 
their neighbors, pro and con. The Smiths assented and were 
conveyed to the county jail at Carthage, which was placed under 
a strong military guard. Most of the men composing it were at 
bitter enemity with the Saints, and in a few days the greater part 
of the detail had deserted. On the afternoon of the 27th day 
of June, 1844, the remnant of the command was overpowered by 
a mob of about two hundred armed and disguised men, who broke 
opened the prison doors and murdered Joseph and Hyrum Smith. 



180 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

There is little doubt that deserters from the Governor's guard led 
the attack. His Excellency hastened to the scene, and was 
greatly affected by the brutal assassination that had taken place, 
and intensely indignant that his pledge of safe conduct and cus- 
tody had been violated. He hastily sent word to the Mormons 
at Nauvoo, to defend themselves, if necessary, in any possible 
way, until he could afford them protection. He at once issued 
a statement in which, among other things, he says : " The pledge 
of security to the Smiths was not given upon my individual re- 
sponsibility alone. Before I gave it I obtained a pledge of 
honor, by a unanimous vote of the officers and men under my com- 
mand, to sustain me in performing it. If the assassination of 
the Smiths was committed by any of these, they have added 
treachery to murder, and have done all they could to disgrace the 
State and sully the public honor." These murders were not 
alone a great crime — they were a great blunder as well. A 
strong tide of public sympathy flowed in toward the Mormons, 
and the foundations of their Church were laid upon broader 
lines, and strengthened and cemented by the blood of the martyrs. 
The Prophet was lauded, lamented, and canonized by his people. 
What others thought of him may be learned, in part, from the 
following characterization which appeared in a religious journal 
of the time : 

" Various are the opinions concerning this singular personage ; 
but whatever may be thought in reference to his principles, ob- 
jects, or moral character, all agree that he was a most remark- 
able man. Born in the very lowest walks of life, reared in pov- 
erty, educated in vice, having no claims to even common intelli- 
gence, coarse and vulgar in deportment, Smith succeeded in 
establishing a religious creed, the tenets of which have been 
taught throughout America ; the Prophet's virtues have been re- 
hearsed in Europe; the ministers of Nauvoo have found a 
welcome in Asia ; Africa has listened to the grave sayings of the 
seer of Palmyra ; the standard of the Latter-Day Saints has been 
reared on the banks of the Nile ; and even the Holy Land has been 
entered by the emissaries of the impostor. He founded a city 
in one of the most beautiful situations in the world, in a beautiful 
curve of the ' Father of Waters,' of no mean pretensions, and in 
and about it he had collected a population of 25,000, from every 
part of the world. The acts of his life exhibit a character as 
incongruous as it is remarkable. If we can credit his own words, 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 181 

and the testimony of eye-witnesses, he was at the same time the 
vicegerent of God and a tavern-keeper — a prophet and a base 
libertine — a minister of peace and a lieutenant-general — a 
ruler of tens of thousands and a slave to all his own base pas- 
sions — a preacher of righteousness and a pf"ofane swearer — a 
worshiper of Bacchus, mayor of a city, and a miserable bar-room 
fiddler — a judge on the judicial bench and an invader of the 
civil, social, and moral relations of men — and, notwithstanding 
these inconsistencies of character, there are not wanting thousands 
willing to stake their soul's eternal salvation on his veracity." 

When the consternation and excitement following the death 
of the head of the Church had in part subsided, the question of 
electing his successor began to be agitated. Mr. Rigdon seems 
to have assumed the Prophet's functions after his taking off, ap- 
parently little doubting that his assumption would be ratified 
by his associate Elders, whenever consideration of the succession 
should engage their attention. He had been from the first the 
trusted friend and counselor of the Prophet. Co-equally with 
him he was the " author and proprietor " of the Book of Mormon. 
But for his possession of the Spalding manuscript, and his 
ability to transpose, transcribe, and travesty the Scriptures, the 
golden revelation would, in all probability, never have been given 
to mankind. By priority of membership, and of service in the 
Church, he was surely entitled to the mantle of his predecessor. 
But he was not a man of real ability. He was showy rather than 
soHd, and was estimated at his true value by most of his brethren. 
Opposed to him, as a candidate for the presidency of the Church, 
was Brigham Young. Few political priests from Thomas a 
Becket to Richelieu have been " entirely great " ; Young was one 
of the few. He was Strafford and Laud combined. He esti- 
mated at its proper value the prize for which he was contending. 
He had seen the people over whom he aspired to rule build cities 
and temples, and pour their wealth ungrudgingly into the lap of 
the head of the Church, at whose hands no reckoning was required. 
The future gave him promise of dictatorship over half a million 
unquestioning and obedient subjects. Could he succeed, supreme 
power and " the potentiality of growing rich beyond the dreams 
of avarice " would be his. Possibilities such as these were not to 
be surrendered to another without making an effort to grasp them. 
The effort was successful; Young was unanimously chosen to 
fill the place left vacant by the death of Joseph Smith, Jr. 



182 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

After his expulsion from the Church, Rigdon returned to the 
Genesee Country and passed the evening of his days in Friend- 
ship, Allegany County, New York ; but his lips forever remained 
sealed in regard to his connection with the origin of Mormonism. 
Many attempts to break his silence were made, but none ever suc- 
ceeded. The following letter from the postmaster at Friend- 
ship, reveals the fact that his children have inherited their 
father's reticence: 

" Dear Sir : 

*' Mr. Rigdon never gave any information, either oral or writ- 
ten, in regard to Mormonism, although frequently solicited to do 
so; and although he has children living here and elsewhere, it 
would avail nothing to attempt to get any information from 
them. Respectfully, 

" R. A. Scott, P. M." 

As has been shown, a majority of the pioneer Mormons either 
seceded or were expelled from the Church. Martin Harris was 
proffered a restoration to fellowship, but declined it. He re- 
visited the scene of his delusion, in 1858, a very poor man, and is 
understood to have passed away some years later, at Kirtland. 
Parley P. Pratt was killed in Arkansas in 1857, by an irate 
husband whose wife had been converted and sealed by the prose- 
lyting elder. There are some communities where lives, not law- 
suits, are the penalty of breaking up the domestic fireside. A 
communication in the New York Times of February 25, 1888, an- 
nounced the death at Richmond, Missouri, on the 25th of Jan- 
uary of that year, of David Whitmer. He was one of the 
three original witnesses who testified " that an angel of God 
came down from Heaven and brought the plates and laid them 
before our eyes, that we saw and beheld them, and the engrav- 
ings thereon " — with much more to the same effect. The 
Times* correspondent says : " Subsequently all of these three 
men renounced Mormonism and declared their testimony false." 
Having taken some pains to investigate the origin and early 
history of Smith's revelation, the writer can find nothing con- 
firmatory of the latter portion of this statement.* It is too im- 

* The following letters effectually dispose of it: 

Clifton Springs, N, Y., Sept. 15, 1889. 
Dear Sir : — Referring to the enclosed cutting from the New York Times, of 
February 25, 1888, I beg to ask whether Mr. Whitmer ever declared his 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 183 

portant, if true, to have escaped all previous and subsequent in- 
vestigation. One of the strangest of the many strange features 
of Mormon history is the fact that though a number of the 
pioneer professors withdrew or were expelled from the Church 
no one of them ever attacked its doctrines, or denounced the fraud 
in which they are supposed to have been participants. The 
Times states that " Mr. Whitmer at the time of his death had in 
his possession the original manuscripts of the Book of Mormon 
in a state of perfect preservation." All this proves nothing ; it 
neither establishes nor overthrows the Solomon Spalding theory, 
and sheds no new light upon the question of the authorship of 
the golden revelation. The statement that the manuscript of 
Spalding's work, which had long been lost, was discovered in the 
Sandwich Islands in 1885, and is now in the hbrary of Hiram 
College, Ohio, adds nothing to the stock of knowledge we now pos- 
sess. It had previously been compared with the Book of Mor- 
mon, and their similarity established. Unless Mr. Rigdon left 
with his heirs a statement regarding it, we are probably in 
possession of all the facts concerning the authorship of the 
Golden Bible which will ever be made known. 

Here this narrative, which has already been carried far beyond 
the boundaries of the Genesee Country, must end. In his inter- 
esting, eloquent, and learned review of " Ranke's History of the 
Popes," Macaulay tells us, " There is not and there never was 
on this earth, a work of human policy so well deserving of exam- 
ination as the Roman Catholic Church." If the Church of the 



testimony in regard to having seen the golden plates to be false? After being 
expelled from the Church, Cowdery was reinstated and resumed his functions 
as an Elder and preacher. Do you know when and where he died, and whether 
he renounced Mormonisra a second time, or died in the faith ? Are any of 
Mr. Whitmer's family still residents in your vicinity, and if so will you kindly 
give me the name and address of some one of them ? Be good enough to re- 
inclose the cutting with your reply and oblige 

Your obedient servant, 

E. W. Vajs'Derhoof. 
To the Postmaster at Richmond, Mo. 

REPLT. 

Richmond, Mo., Sept. 18th, '89. 
Dear Sir: — David Whitmer never renounced Mormonisra. He never 
declared that his testimony in regard to plates was false. He was regarded by 
everybody as an honest man. By this writer who knew him intimately for 
many years, and was his family physician, he was regarded as an honest but 
misguided or deceived man. His son, David J. Whitmer, and his grandson, 
George W. Schemich, reside here; also his nephew, Jno. C. Whitmer, who is 
an Elder in the Mormon Church. Oliver died here. He never renounced 
Mormonism that I ever beard of. Respectfully, 

S. T. Bassett, M. D., p. M. 



184. HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Latter-Day Saints was equally deserving, the writer is not the 
proper person to make the examination. Born within a few miles 
of the Hill of Camorah, at about the period when the new revela- 
tion was given to the world, he was taught by orthodox parents 
that it was an impudent and impious fraud. Written by him, the 
history of the Mormon Church would not be impartial. But he 
may show how unprejudiced writers have regarded it. Profes- 
sor Renan, in " The Apostles," tells us that " our own age has 
witnessed religious movements quite as extraordinary as those of 
former times: movements attended with as much enthusiasm, 
which have already had, in proportion, more martyrs, and the 
future of which is still undetermined. I do not refer to the Mor- 
mons, a sect in some respects so degraded and absurd that one 
hesitates to seriously consider it. There is much to suggest re- 
flection, however, in seeing thousands of men of our own race 
living in the miraculous in the middle of the nineteenth century, 
and blindly believing in the wonders which they profess to have 
seen and touched. A literature has already arisen pretending to 
reconcile Mormonism and science. But what is of more importance, 
this religion, founded upon silly impostures, has inspired prodi- 
gies of patience and self-denial. Five hundred years hence, 
learned professors will seek to prove its divine origin by the 
miracle of its establishment." 

The introduction to the Book of Mormon, published by 
Wright & Co., of New York, about the time of the movement to 
Utah, says: 

" That a single man, in the midst of the enlightenment of this 
century, should have been able to throw the lines of mysticism 
so thoroughly over the minds of hundreds and thousands of men 
and women, is not more wonderful than the earnest and self- 
denying faith with which his devotees have sustained an unbroken 
unity, under circumstances of remarkable privation and peril. 
Nor is it less surprising that the assumption of a power very 
nearly absolute, by one man, who is regarded as the legitimate 
successor of the original Prophet, has come to be accepted by 
this people as a divine ordination, and that to one guiding spirit 
alone is yielded the homage and obedience which Insure the auto- 
cratic sway of Brigham Young. Considered in all their rela- 
tions — religious, political, moral, or social — the Mormons are 
a curious people. Occupying for their headquarters a portion 
of the American continent which is far removed from the influ- 



JOSEPH SMITH, JR., AND MORMONISM 185 

ences of civilization, and indeed Is for many months In the year 
totally inaccessible — cooped up among overhanging mountains 
— destitute of the refinements of ordinary social life — bent be- 
neath the sway of an unscrupulous hierarchy — holding to prac- 
tices which, elsewhere than in their own territory, would subject 
them to the penalties of the law ; and, withal, noted for a spirit of 
zeal, industry, and perseverance which has enabled them to con- 
vert the wildest moods of nature into servants of their will — the 
Mormons have earned an enduring reputation for sincerity, 
and energy, and capacity. When the secrets of their origin, 
and progress, and government shall have been added to the pub- 
lished record of their religious belief, this people will rank among 
the most extraordinary of all the sects that have sprung into 
life as the world has run its course." 

But there are signs which lead us to believe that the end of 
Mormonism is approaching. Civilization spans the continent, 
and there is no further retreat within our jurisdiction where the 
Saints can, for any length of time, find solitude. Brigham 
Young left no successor at all his equal in boldness and ability. 
The chief -priests of the hierarchy no longer bid defiance to a 
Government which expresses the will of sixty-five millions* of 
people, and have ceased to laugh at its courts and trample with 
impunity upon its laws. Utah, freed from polygamy, will soon 
join the sisterhood of States, and Mormonism, surrounded by 
enlightenment, liberty, and law, must " die amid its wor- 
shipers." 

* The population of the United States in 1887. 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 

" Perhaps thou wert a Mason and forbidden. 
By oath, to tell the secrets of thy trade." 

— Address to the Mummy. 

WHAT is knovm to-day under the name of Free- 
masonry had its origin in the mechanical art of 
cutting, joining, and setting stones. It dates back 
to the middle ages, but enthusiastic members of 
the order claim to have traced it to the days of 
Solomon's Temple, and the Tower of Babel. In what may be 
called cathedral-building times, hundreds of masons, — aside 
from those resident in the locality where the erection was going 
forward, — were employed in building church edifices. As these 
itinerants moved from place to place, it occurred to some of the 
more active minds among them that an organization of their 
craft, by means of which a skilled workman could make himself 
known through certain grips and passwords, would facilitate their 
employment on new work, and do away with the necessity of 
showing their skill by actual handicraft. These grips, pass- 
words, and other symbols, the initiated were bound to keep secret, 
thus laying the foundation stone upon which the Order of Free 
and Accepted Masons rests to-day. They were denominated 
" Free " because exempted by various Papal bulls from the 
operation of laws governing and regulating common labor. 
Being thus under the patronage of the Popes, and mainly em- 
ployed in church building, masons were bound by their rules to 
observe certain pious duties, and though no obligation of that 
kind exists to-day, yet modem masonry is founded in the " prac- 
tice of the moral and social virtues," and the salient features of 
its creed are charity and brotherly love. It has flourished in 
England since the tenth century, and on its roll of membership 
have been inscribed the names of Kings and Princes from the 
days of Henry VII., who was grand master of the English 
lodges, down to the Prince of Wales, who stands high among his 
fellow craftsmen to-day. Though masonry has perhaps taken 
stronger root amongst English-speaking people than elsewhere. 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 187 

yet it flourishes in a greater or less degree in France, Russia, 
Prussia, Holland, and Denmark, and has obtained some footing 
in British India. It has existed in Spain and Italy, though 
generally under control of the government, and sometimes, 
in the former country under ban of the Inquisition. It has, 
however, usually been permitted to flourish without governmental 
interference, and in an act of parliament passed in 1799 for the 
suppression of secret societies, Freemasonry was specially ex- 
cepted. In the more liberal and enlightened times in which we 
live, so far from it being thought necessary to regulate the 
craft by statute, it is regarded as beneficent and worthy by a 
great majority even of those who have not lifted the veil which 
hides its harmless mysteries, though it has not wholly escaped 
hostility and bitter opposition in this country, and in the blazing 
light of the nineteenth century. More than sixty years ago it 
received a blow in Western New York from which it reeled and 
staggered, and though it has now almost wholly recovered from 
the storm of denunciation and obloquy rained upon it at that 
time, yet on the minds of a number of worthy people the events 
of 1826 have stamped an ineradicable hostility to secret societies 
of every name and nature. 

On the 11th day of September, 1826, William Morgan was ar- 
rested in Batavia on a warrant sworn out by Nicholas G. Chese- 
bro, master of a Masonic lodge at Canandaigua, and was con- 
veyed to the latter place and arraigned before the justice issuing 
the warrant — Jeff'rey Chipman, Esq., — the charge against 
him being that he had stolen a shirt and cravat which he had 
borrowed from E. C. Kingsley. Chesebro and two or three 
other Masons who had accompanied Morgan from Batavia ap- 
peared as his accusers, but failed to substantiate their charge 
and he was discharged by the justice who had issued the warrant. 
He was at once rearrested on a small debt due, or claimed to be 
due, for a tavern bill which had been assigned to Chesebro by 
Aaron Ashley. Judgment was rendered against him for two 
dollars by the justice, and upon the oath of Chesebro an execu- 
tion was issued on the spot, and Morgan was thrown into 
Canandaigua jail. Both charges were trumped-up affairs, man- 
ufactured, as it afterwards appeared, for the purpose of getting 
possession of his person and compelling him by intimidation and 
threats to give up to his accusers a manuscript he had written 
revealing the secrets of masonry. About 9 o'clock on the even- 



188 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

ing of the 12th, the day succeeding his incarceration, Chese- 
bro and his fellow conspirators appeared at the jail with an 
order for Morgan's release signed by the convenient justice who 
had acted in the case. The equally convenient j ailer was absent, 
and the prisoner was clandestinely taken from the jail by a 
number of Masons, bound, gagged, hurried into a covered car- 
riage, and rapidly driven in the direction of Rochester. It is 
now known that many persons were cognizant of these move- 
ments, and that in fact a majority of the active lodge attending 
members of the Masonic fraternity in the counties of Ontario, 
Monroe, Genesee, Orleans, and Niagara approved of and num- 
bers of them aided in this outrage upon personal liberty. Re- 
lays of horses were ready on the route over which the prisoner 
passed, and a perfectly organized plan of proceedings had evi- 
dently been adopted in regard to the abduction. It was not 
until they were made the subject of a searching legal investiga- 
tion, assisted by expert detectives specially employed by the au- 
thorities, that these things were brought to light, and for a long 
time even the route taken by the abductors remained a mystery. 
It is now known that the carriage passed through Rochester 
and thence on the ridge road westerly towards Lockport, where 
a cell in the jail had been prepared for Morgan's reception. At 
a place called Wright's Corners the programme was changed and 
he was driven to Lewiston, and thence to Fort Niagara, where he 
was confined in the magazine. Colonel Ezekiel Jewett was in 
command of the fort, and during Morgan's detention there he 
was in the custody of the Commandant, of Colonel King of 
Niagara County, and of Elisha Adams. He had in fact been 
passed from one set of custodians to another three or four times 
in going from Canandaigua to the fort. During his confine- 
ment every effort was made to force him to reveal the hiding 
place of his manuscript, but without avail. He maintained a de- 
fiant atttude, and vehemently demanded to be released. When 
all hope of liberation had vanished, he partially lost fortitude 
and begged to see his wife and children. But not even a prom- 
ise that they should be brought to him could induce him to dis- 
close the place of concealment of his manuscript. Meantime a 
council of the members of the Masonic fraternity met at the fort 
and deliberated upon his case. It is said that three propositions 
were discussed. The first was to give him a sum of money and 
settle him on a farm in Canada, provided he would pledge him- 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 189 

self to destroy his revelations ; second, to deliver him to the 
Masonic commander of a British Man-of-War at Montreal or 
Quebec; or third, to drown him in Niagara River. The last 
proposal met with strong opposition. High words and a quar- 
rel ensued among the deliberators, and when William Morgan 
disappeared from the fort, sometime between the 19th and 29th 
days of September, 1826, he became as utterly lost to human 
ken as though he had never existed. 

Who was William Morgan? Although scores of men are 
stiU living in Western New York who had reached their majority 
at the time of this abduction, and probably half a score survive 
who knew him personally and saw him go to and fro to his daily 
vocations, yet his personal history is wrapped in obscurity, 
and it is almost impossible to say with accuracy who and what 
he was. Judge Hammond in his " Political History of New 
York " says he was a native of Virginia, a printer by trade, and 
a Mason of the royal arch degree. Chancellor Whittlesey in the 
same work in an article on Political Anti-Masonry, contributed at 
the request of Hammond, says that Morgan's book pretended to 
reveal a few of the first degrees of masonry, and leaves the 
inference that its author was a Mason who had attained those 
degrees though he does not distinctly say so. Another account 
says that he was a bricklayer and stone mason, and a native of 
Massachusetts.* Morgan in his book gives no account of him- 
self, but iterates and reiterates in the most positive language 
the statement that he was not then and had never been a member 
of the Masonic f rateraity, and that in publishing his revelations 
he violated no Masonic oath, for he had never taken one. How, 
then, could he reveal the mysteries of the Masonic Craft? Simply 
by having them revealed to him by some one who was a Mason, 
and such an one was his coadjutor, David C. Miller, of Batavia, 
who was to print his books and share his profits. There is no 
absolutely certainty that Morgan wrote the revelations that were 
published in his name, but if he did, he was not a Mason, unless 
his solemn assertions on that point are false. Regarding his 



* Morgan was a Virginian and a mason by trade. Having accumulated a 
little money in that occupation he removed to Richmond and began merchan- 
dizing in a retail way. From there he went to Canada where he engaged in 
brewing. A fire destroying his brewery he was left penniless, and resumed 
his mechanical work, at first in Rochester, and later in Batavia. He married in 
Virginia a Miss Pendleton who at the time of his abduction was only four and 
twenty, and was left penniless, with a child in arms and one about two years 
of age, dependent on her for support. 



190 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

trade or profession it is safe to conclude that he was not a 
printer, for had he been he could have put his " copy " into type 
himself, and destroyed his manuscript as he went along. I 
assume, therefore, the truth of the statement that he was a stone- 
mason, and might have been a member of the original craft, 
had he lived in the days of Hiram AbbifF and King Solomon's 
Temple. But whatever was his vocation, it seems reasonably 
certain that up to the time when he threatened to reveal Masonic 
secrets he had not been successful in life, and that his pamphlet 
was to be published with a view to pecuniary profit. His am- 
bition to better his fortune was shared by his partner, Miller, 
who, neither before nor after the Anti-Masonic excitement, was 
a man who stood well in the community where he lived. But if 
Miller was to share the pecuniary rewards of his partner he 
also had to share his persecutions. Members of the Masonic 
order learning that he was about to publish a book revealing the 
secrets of their craft took active measures to suppress it, and 
made a number of attempts to obtain possession of the " copy." 
In fact, Miller was the first though not the greater martyr. 
Very much the same tactics were resorted to in his case as were 
afterward employed against Morgan. In August, 1826, he was 
arrested in a civil action, but obtained bail. His bondsman after 
a few days had elapsed surrendered him to the sheriflT, and on 
a Saturday afternoon he was lodged in jail. Be it remembered 
that in those days imprisonment for debt was the law of the land. 
The object of his incarceration seems to have been to get him 
out of the way, while his lodgings and the premises where the 
revelations were to be printed could be searched. His perse- 
cutors were not rewarded by a discovery of the objectionable 
manuscript, and in their disappointment fired the building sup- 
posed to contain it. The incendiary attempt was discovered in 
time to be frustrated. On the 12th of September, Miller was 
arrested on a warrant issued by a justice of the peace of the 
village of LeRoy, and in charge of a constable started for the 
office of the magistrate issuing the process. The annoyances, 
threats, and arrests to which he had already been subjected, 
had aroused his friends and neighbors, and a number of them 
followed him to see that he met with no foul play. At 
Stafford, a town on the road, he was taken from the carriage 
in which he was being driven, to a Masonic lodge, and an effort 
was made to so far intimidate him as to obtain the embryo reve- 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 191 

lations. A large party of his friends gathered in front of the 
.lodge and demanded his release. He was brought out, saw 
counsel, and learned for the first time what was the nature of the 
charge against him. It was a civil action for 'debt, but all bail 
was refused. Both parties then set out for LeRoy, and on 
arrival he demanded that his case should be heard at once. His 
friends were so numerous and determined, that his demand was 
acceded to, and discharge at once followed, as no evidence was 
found against him. He hastened his return to Batavia, his 
friends foihng an attempt to rearrest him. In September, 1827, 
three of the parties engaged in this outrage upon personal lib- 
erty and private rights were tried for false imprisonment, riot, 
and assault and battery, and were convicted and sentenced to 
different terms of imprisonment in the county jail. 

It may be very well imagined that such transactions as these 
produced a powerful sensation in the communities where they 
occurred, but the fire that glowed with such fervent heat at a 
later period burnt slowly at first, principally because of the 
difficulties thrown in the way of everyone attempting an investi- 
gation, and because of the truth of the adage that " what is 
everybody's business is nobody's." Another reason grew out of 
the fact that a gubernatorial election was going forward, and 
as both candidates were Masons there was no opportunity for 
connecting these events with politics. Anti-Masonry at this 
time had hardly spread beyond the villages of Batavia, LeRoy, 
Canandaigua, Rochester, and Lockport. East of Cayuga 
Bridge a majority of the voters, whether CHntonians or Buck- 
tails, went to the polls in blissful ignorance of the false im- 
prisonment of Miller or of the abduction of Morgan. Railroads 
and electric telegraphs had not yet been introduced, and the 
hebdomadal stage coach was not an active disseminator of news. 
DeWitt Clinton was elected governor. He was a Mason, holding 
the highest degree then conferred by the order. Had his oppon- 
ent. Judge Rochester, not been a member of the fraternity, there 
is little doubt that the western counties would at that early period 
have given him a sufficient number of votes to have made him 
governor. But he and his competitor were tarred with the same 
stick, though not in the same degree. 

In endeavoring to give some account of the excitement which 
followed in the wake of these events and, for more than five 
years, absorbed the public mind to the exclusion of almost 



192 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

every other subject, I wish it to be understood that, in speaking 
of one of the parties to the controversy as " the people " 
the designation includes not that large class alone which is 
opposed to all secret societies, but also the larger class of 
law-abiding citizens, who, caring not one straw whether their 
neighbors were or were not members of the Masonic order, were 
commendably indignant against the hot-headed, active, and crim- 
inally-zealous members of the fraternity, who had bid defiance to 
the laws of the State, and the authority of its courts, and had 
constituted themselves judges, jurors, and executioners of an 
American citizen against whom no offense punishable by our 
statutes had been proven or even alleged. And, on the other 
hand, there were many Masons of that class which took no active 
part in lodge matters, and had not in fact attended a lodge meet- 
ing for years, who disapproved of any criminal offense against 
the laws on the part of their impulsive brethren. But this class 
to a very great extent was forced into an attitude of defense if 
not hostility by the intemperate denunciation of Anti-Masons, 
who charged the Masonic order, and every individual member of 
it, with being guilty of the crime which had been committed 
by zealous, impulsive, and wrong-headed lodge-going members. 
The gubernatorial election being settled, the people who were 
cognizant of the fact that Morgan, after being discharged from 
the custody of the law, had been illegally and violently seized, 
and had disappeared no one knew whither, began to investigate 
the matter with a view to solving the mystery surrounding the 
affair, and ascertaining whether a crime had been committed, and 
if so, by whom. A public meeting having these objects in view 
was called at Batavia and a committee was appointed which at 
once proceeded to Canandaigua and began a searching inquiry 
after Morgan. The facts ascertained by the committee have 
already been stated. When made public they produced a power- 
ful impression in the community, and meetings were called in 
other places, particularly in those towns through which the 
prisoner had been conducted, with a view of ascertaining the 
fate he had met at the hands of his captors. No definite con- 
clusion was reached, but the facts elicited pointed to the com- 
mission of a flagrant crime, and aroused the suspicion that it 
was attended by the sacrifice of human life. These public meet- 
ings, and the investigating committees appointed by them, were 
composed of citizens of all creeds and all shades of political 




WILLIAM MORGAN 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 193 

opinion, and in many places Masons were invited to attend them 
and assist in the investigations, and were urged, in order to avoid 
a stigma upon their institution, to assist in upholding the violated 
majesty of the law. Very little encouragement was met with 
from Masonic sources, and with scarce an exception no Mason 
aided the early attempts to uncover the mystery connected with 
Morgan's abduction and disappearance. On the contrary. 
Masons as a body cast ridicule upon these meetings and the com- 
mittees appointed by them, and justified openly and publicly 
whatever acts had been committed by their brethren in punish- 
ment of Morgan for the attempt they believed he was about to 
make to reveal the secrets of their order. The committees were 
told that the governor, the judges, jurors, sheriffs, and wit- 
nesses were all Masons, and were openly defied and taunted with 
their inability to bring punishment upon any one connected 
with their high-handed violation of the laws of the State and 
the liberty and safety of one of its citizens. It need hardly be 
said that this tone was met and repelled by one equally bitter and 
galhng. Masons were denounced to their faces as murderers 
and justifiers of murder, as cutthroats and outlaws, and the 
Masonic institution was charged with being, by its constitution, 
rules, and oaths, inimical to the laws of the land, and the obliga- 
tions of good citizenship and good neighborhood. Its existence 
was denounced as dangerous to the common weal, and its absolute 
suppression by statute was strongly demanded. 

Stimulated by mutual accusation and retort the excitement 
rose to fever heat and it is a marvel that internecine strife was 
avoided. Chancellor Whittelsey has well said " that the public 
feeling was lashed into such a state of intense fury that under 
almost any other government the outbreak would have culmi- 
nated in horror and bloodshed, and must have done so here but for 
the safety valve provided by our institutions, the ballot box." 
When the committees or caucuses met in a number of the western 
counties in the spring of 1827 to nominate candidates for town 
officers, it was pretty generally resolved and carried that no Free- 
mason should be supported, as they " were unfit to be voted for 
by freemen, or to hold any office of trust in the community." 
In this way the ballot box was introduced into the controversy, 
and political Anti-Masonry had its origin. 

In January, 1827, Loton Lawson, Nicholas G. Chesebro, John 
Sheldon, and Edward Sawyer were arraigned at Canandaigua 



194 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

before Judge Enos T. Throop, afterward governor of the State, 
charged with " conspiracy to abduct." Developments were ex- 
pected which would unravel the mystery surrounding the fate of 
Morgan, and the disappointment was very great when the in- 
culpated parties pleaded guilty, and thus avoided any probing 
of the affair by the counsel for the prosecution. In sentencing 
the prisoners Judge Throop addressed them as follows : " Your 
conduct has created in the people of this section of the country 
a strong feeling of virtuous indignation. The court rejoices 
to witness it, — to be made certain that a citizen's person cannot 
be invaded by lawless violence without its being felt by every indi- 
vidual in the community. It is a blessed spirit, and we do hope 
that it will not subside ; that it will be accompanied by a ceaseless 
vigilance and untiring activity, until every actor in this profligate 
conspiracy is hunted from his hiding place and brought before 
the tribunals of his country to receive the punishment merited by 
his crime. We think we see in this public sensation 
the spirit which brought us into existence as a nation, 
and a pledge that our rights and liberties are destined 
to endure." Three years later this judge, acting as 
governor, in his message to the legislature, spoke of 
the Anti-Masonic excitement as " originating in an honest zeal 
overflowing its proper boundaries, misdirected in its efforts, and 
carrying into public affairs matters properly belonging to social 
discipline." And this same judge, acting as governor, re- 
fused to turn over to John C. Spencer, the attorney specially 
appointed by the State to untangle the web of what 
the governor, acting as judge, had denounced as "this 
profligate conspiracy," the reward of two thousand dol- 
lars which Governor Clinton had offered for the very 
purpose to which Mr. Spencer wished to apply it. And 
furthermore, Mr. Spencer in his letter of resignation following 
the refusal of acting Governor Throop, complained that even 
his confidential communications to the governor in relation to 
the conspiracy had been disclosed to the counsel for the con- 
spirators. Judge Throop had become governor by the ap- 
pointment of Martin Van Buren to a seat in General Jackson's 
cabinet. He wished to become governor by a vote of the people, 
and probably thought the " eftest way " to accomplish his desire 
would be to throw cold water in 1830 on the " righteous spirit 
of virtuous indignation " which as judge he so strongly com- 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 195 

mended in 1827. Very honest judges sometimes make very 
shrewd politicians. 

The result of this trial served only to increase the Anti-Masonic 
excitement. It was alleged, and with apparent reason, that by 
pleading guilty and thus preventing the introduction of evidence, 
the Masons had tacitly admitted that their acts would not stand 
the test of judicial investigation, and the demand for a searching 
legal inquiry became so powerful that acting governor Pitcher 
(he became governor by the death while in office of DeWitt 
Clinton) recommended to the legislature the passage of a law 
appointing a special attorney to take charge, on behalf of the 
State, of all legal proceedings connected with Morgan's fate. 
The recommendation became a law, although unasked for, and 
even opposed by the Anti-Masons, and Daniel Moseley, a dis- 
tinguished member of the Onondaga bar, received the appoint- 
ment. He had hardly formed his plan for the prosecution of 
these cases when he was made a judge of one of the circuits of 
the State, and accepted the position. Governor Van Buren, who 
had succeeded acting Governor Pitcher, promptly appointed 
John C. Spencer of Canandaigua Mr. Moseley's successor. Mr. 
Van Buren showed his usual acumen in selecting a political op- 
ponent as public prosecutor. The position required not only 
a man of high legal attainments but of great moral and physical 
courage, as the sequel will show. If Mr. Spencer succeeded, 
he was sure to bring upon himself the wrath of the entire 
IMasonic fraternity; if he failed, he was equally certain to be 
denounced by the Anti-Masons. Success would bring credit to 
the governor making the appointment, while failure would dam- 
age a formidable political opponent. Mr. Van Buren certainly 
earned the designation of The Fox of Kinderhook. But what- 
ever may have been the governor's motive in making it, the 
appointment gave entire satisfaction to even the most rabid 
leaders of the Anti-Masonic movement. Mr. Spencer was thor- 
oughly imbued with the idea that a horrible crime had been com- 
mitted; not so much by individuals, who were merely its agents, 
as by a secret society, bound together by oaths of horrid import ; 
and he believed with all the earnestness of his strong and austere 
nature that the existence of such a society, capable not only of 
performing deeds of violence and murder but bound in certain 
cases by the terms of its organization to perform them, was a 
menace to the individual, to society, and to the State. He 



196 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

entered upon the discharge of his duties with characteristic zeal 
and determination, and his profound abihty and wide and varied 
experience as a lawyer encouraged the hope, and warranted the 
expectation, that the perpetrators of this bold crime would be 
unmasked and brought to justice. Keen and experienced de- 
tectives were employed to lay it bare, and every scheme prom- 
ising success was pushed with renewed vigor by Mr. Spencer. 
Of course, all this brought upon him a storm of hostile criticism 
from the Masonic fraternity, and provoked the bitter enmity 
of all who were in any way connected with the fate of Morgan. 
Mr. Spencer's friends became seriously fearful for his safety. 
They represented to him that if, as he believed, assassins had 
abducted and made way with Morgan, they were quite capable 
of an attempt upon himself. But in spite of the fears of his 
family and friends, and of a number of anonymous letters con- 
taining most fearful threats, he continued to perform his duties 
as public prosecutor with unflinching vigor and determination. 
Two of these letters read as follows : 

" To John C. Spencer : Sir — 

"As you are seeking the blood of those who never injured you, 
remember that your own blood will run quite as easily and as red 
as theirs. Therefore Beware! Beware ! ! 

Revenge." 

" To Hon. John C. Spencer : 

" Dear Sir — Your life is in danger ! Assassins are upon your 
track ! Do not regard this warning lightly, but look to your- 
self, for you are watched by secret foes ! 

A Friend." 

To these and other anonymous communications, whether from 
blustering foes or pretending friends, Mr. Spencer gave little 
heed. But the rule that the writer of an anonymous letter is 
prima facie a coward, and that anyone seriously intending to do 
bodily harm to another in a stealthy manner will never advertise 
the intention, did not hold good in this case. Two attempts 
upon his life were made within a short time of each other, but 
both were fortunately unsuccessful. On his way from his office 
to his residence, on a dark night, a desperate thinist was made at 
him by a man armed with a short, straight sword drawn from a 




JOHN C. SPENCER 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 197 

cane. The lunge would probably have proved fatal, had not the 
assassin stumbled over a stone as he sprang towards Mr. Spen- 
. cer, thereby causing his weapon to err in its aim. Before he 
could recover himself and repeat the attempt, the assailant was 
disarmed and arrested, but, with what was thought by many to be 
misplaced leniency, Mr. Spencer refused to prosecute him, and 
he was discharged. 

Shortly after this, while returning alone from a professional 
visit to an adjoining town, night overtook him while yet a number 
of miles from home. The weather was balmy, the road good, and 
he permitted his horse to move slowly along, when, suddenly, 
a bullet whistled past his head, and the sharp crack of a rifle 
rang in his ears. Putting spurs to his horse he reached home 
in safety, escaping the assassin's bullet as he had his dagger. 

It was most fortunate that neither of these attempts succeeded. 
The public mind was not in a state to bear additional excitement, 
and it is not pleasant, and perhaps not wise, to think of the 
consequences that might have followed the assassination of the 
special prosecuting officer employed by the State to examine into 
the off^ence committed, and if possible to unearth and bring to 
justice those who had committed it. One of the least harmful 
of these consequences would have been the election of an Anti- 
Masonic governor and legislature, and the enactment of laws 
hostile if not fatal to the existence of the Masonic order in our 
State. 

Of course, members of the order said, and still say, that there 
was no intention to take the life of Mr. Spenecr; that these 
attempts were made for the purpose of intimidating him only; 
but whatever may have been the intent of the erring marksman, 
there is little doubt that the party with the sword-cane was in 
dead earnest, and was only prevented from executing his pur- 
pose by the stumble which misdirected his aim. 

But whether meant or not, the threatening letters, and at- 
tempts upon him with dagger and bullet, had no effect to turn 
Mr. Spencer from the performance of the duties entrusted to 
him by the government of the State. He laid the iron hand of 
the law upon all whom he believed to be concerned in the dark 
deed against Morgan. Many prominent persons were arrested 
and indicted, and a number of them pleaded guilty to the charge 
of conspiring to abduct the man who had so mysteriously dis- 
appeared from human vision. 



198 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Among the more important trials that took place were the 
People against Mather, and the People aganist Jewett. Being 
regarded as test cases, these trials excited intense interest, and 
were watched by crowds of eager partisans, both of the accused 
and accusers. The case of Mather was heard at the Orleans 
circuit before Judge Addison Gardiner. He was fully aware 
of the heated state of the public mind, and of the demands of 
public clamor, but casting away all such considerations he stood 
firmly for justice as interpreted by the law, believing it to be 
the " end of government, and of civil society." His decision 
during the progress of the trial that a witness — one William 
Daniels — need not answer a question put by the public prose- 
cutor on the ground that a direct answer would criminate him, 
and tend toward his infamy and disgrace, was fatal to the case 
of the People, the jury after a protracted consultation bring- 
ing in a verdict of not guilty. The result disappointed and 
irritated Mr. Spencer, as he believed Mather to be guilty, and he 
at once moved for a new trial on the grounds of misdirection by 
Judge Gardiner in the case of this particular witness, and of 
errors in various other rulings. The appeal was heard before 
the general term of the Supreme Court in September, 1830, 
Hon. William L. Marcy presiding. In contending for a new 
trial, Mr. Spencer brought all his remarkable powers of mind and 
all his vast resources as a lawyer to bear upon the court, but a 
majority of the judges were against him, and with their de- 
cision the case rested forever. Its trial however elicited facts 
and unfolded circumstances strongly inculpating others, and led 
to the trial of the other case mentioned — the People against 
Jewett. 

The acquittal of Mather served rather to intensify than to 
allay the Anti-Masonic excitement. It was contended with great 
bitterness and acrimony that his escape was due to legal techni- 
calities and quibbles, and that if the public prosecutor had not 
been prevented by the court from proving his case, conviction and 
not acquittal must have been the verdict. 

It is not, then, to be wondered at that the town of Lockport, 
where the trial of Jewett took place, was thronged by a crowd 
of vehement and turbulent persons, a majority of whom were 
Anti-Masons. In this case Hon. William L. Marcy presided, 
and controlled with quiet but firm dignity, and unswerving im- 
partiality, the participants in the trial and the excited spec- 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 199 

tators of the scene. The accused, Colonel Ezeklel Jewett, was 
the most prominent person yet brought before the courts for com- 
plicity in the mysterious taking off of Morgan. He was com- 
mander of Fort Niagara, where the abductors had confined their 
prisoner, and from whence he had disappeared, as it proved, 
forever. This time conviction seemed certain. The strong 
hand of the law held the prisoner firmly in its grasp, and Mr. 
Spencer, who had labored with untiring zeal, and had devoted 
every resource of his strong intellect and profound legal at- 
tainments to the task of unmasking the great offence, now be- 
lieved that the hour of triumph had come. 

There was one man who knew, or was believed to know, all 
about the guilt or innocence of the accused. This man was 
Orsamus Turner. He took the witness stand amid a silence 
that was almost audible and a hushed expectation almost pain- 
ful. The audience that crowded the court room beheved that 
the fate of William Morgan was now to be revealed. The pre- 
liminary questions were put by Mr. Spencer in a tone and man- 
ner that indicated the importance of the testimony he expected 
to elicit. These questions were answered with self-possession 
and in a firm tone by the witness, but when the vital point was 
reached, and the question was put, the answer to which was ex- 
pected to show conclusively the guilt of the accused, a paleness 
overspread Turner's face, his mouth closed with rigid firm- 
ness, a look of determined obstinacy flashed from his eyes, but 
no answer came from his defiant lips. It is useless to attempt 
any description of the intense and painful interest which per- 
vaded the vast audience, and almost suspended the respiration 
of those composing it, while awaiting the answer of the witness 
and during the first few moments after it was seen that none 
could be expected. The deep voice of William L. Marcy broke 
the almost smothering silence. In a tone that conveyed every 
emotion excited by the scene he said : " Witness, are you aware of 
the consequences of your refusal to answer.?" *' I am," was 
the firm reply. In authoritative, dignified, and most impressive 
language. Judge Marcy depicted to Turner the evil conse- 
quences to himself and to society that would flow from his ob- 
stinacy, and said " the court still gives you an opportunity to 
avoid the punishment which will surely follow your rash con- 
tumacy; answer the counsel's question." The question was re- 
peated by Mr. Spencer. A faint flush succeeding his pallor was 



200 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

the only indication given by the witness that he had heard it. 
Another profound silence, of sufficient duration to indicate that 
no answer could be elicited, was broken by the judge who said, — 
" Sheriff, convey the witness to the common jail, and keep him 
in solitary confinement until you are directed to release him by 
the court." Turner was taken by the Sheriff and a number 
of assistants to Lockport jail. But long and weary as was his 
incarceration it served only to increase his obstinacy, and so far 
as the fate of Morgan is concerned his lips remained forever 
sealed.* 

Although Mr. Spencer was again thwarted in his attempt to 
convict one of the conspirators in what he thought was a dark 
crime, his efforts to bring it to the light were not abated, and his 
faith in ultimate success remained unshaken. The secret de- 
tectives employed by the State revealed to him the names of other 
implicated parties, whose prosecution he determined upon, but in 
order to proceed with a reasonable chance of success he asked of 
the State that the sum of two thousand dollars — the amount of 
the reward offered by Gov. Clinton — be turned over to his use. 
He thought this moderate amount was necessary to procure the 
attendance of witnesses, pay for further detective service, and 
carry out other plans he had made for successfully performing 
the duties devolving upon him as public prosecutor by the State 
authorities. Greatly to his surprise acting Governor Throop re- 
fused to accede to his demand. Mr. Spencer at once tendered 
his resignation, and retired from a contest which had so long 
enlisted his earnest sympathies as a man, his eminent ability as 
a lawyer, and his splendid powers as an advocate. He retired 
from the field with full confidence that victory was within his 
grasp. 

With his withdrawal interest in the legal aspects of the case 
began to abate. The statute of limitation intervened to prevent 
further prosecution for anything except murder, and no charge 
for that crime could be maintained without producing the body 



* Orsamus Turner was a printer by trade, and wrote a history of the Phelps 
and Gorham and of the Holland Purchase. Together with Eli Bruce and Jared 
Darrow he was indicted for a conspiracy to kidnap and carry away William 
Morgan, and was tried at the Ontario County General Sessions in August, 
1828. Bruce was convicted. A verdict of not guilty was returned in favor of 
Turner and Darrow. Turner remained in jail until all further prosecution of 
the abductors of Morgan was abandoned. When set at liberty he was received 
by a large body of Masons mounted on horseback, and was escorted through 
the principal streets of Lockport to his home. 




FRANCIS GRANGER 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 201 

of the victim, and demonstrating by evidence that it had been 
foully dealt by. The corpus delicti was wanting; and the say- 
ing, " that it is easy enough to kiU a man but very hard to get 
rid of the body," once more proves that there is no rule without 
an exception, and the fate of Morgan remains forever shrouded 
in the mystery which from the first has surrounded it. 

But though it seemed impossible to procure testimony that 
would convict the presumed slayers of Morgan, interest in his 
fate, and acrimonious and heated discussions concerning it, by 
no means ceased. In the case of Mather Judge Gardiner had 
decided that a witness need not answer an incriminating question ; 
and on appeal had been sustained by a majority of the full 
bench. If this provoked indignation and hostile criticism from 
Anti-Masons, it may well be imagined that their tongues and 
pens were not silent over the refusal of Turner to reply to a 
vital interrogatory, though commanded by the law, and its 
minister Judge Marcy, to do so. It was vehemently and logic- 
ally asserted that a truthful answer to Mr. Spencer's question 
must have revealed the secret of Morgan's murder and convicted 
Jewett of guilty participation in it. Turner had only to open 
his lips falsely, and the accused would have walked out of court 
free and exonerated. But he was a man of too much honor to 
violate the oath he had taken by telling a falsehood, and of too 
much loyalty to his friend to utter the words that would have 
brought upon him a felon's fate ; he therefore maintained an ab- 
solute and inflexible silence and accepted its consequences. All 
this and much more was bitterly urged by the opponents of 
Masonry. Its defenders could only say in reply that the evi- 
dence of Turner if given would have been unimportant, and that 
his obstinacy in refusing to testify was as much a surprise to 
them as to any one. 

Sometime previous to these trials the last of the Anti-Masonic 
meetings that were non-political in character was held at Lewis- 
ton. It was made up chiefly of the investigating committees ap- 
pointed by some half dozen previous assemblages in various towns 
who had met to compare notes, and make public such results as 
they had arrived at. Their conclusions when published, some time 
afterwards, showed to their own satisfaction, and the satisfaction 
of those who reposed confidence in them, that Morgan had been 
abducted and forcibly carried with but little delay from Canan- 
daigua to Fort Niagara, had been confined in the magazine of 



202 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

the fort for a period not exceeding ten days, and had been 
taken thence, and there, or near there, had been put to death. 
There seems to have been no better reason for arriving at this 
latter conclusion than that given by Lord Byron, in Beppo : 

" If a man wont let us know 
That he's alive, he's dead, or should be so." 

It is not my design to give an extended account of political 
Anti-Masonry, but a few of the prominent events connected with 
it will be glanced at. The first political convention of Anti- 
Masons was held in LeRoy in the spring of 1828. Its main 
object seems to have been to direct the public mind to the danger- 
ous tendencies of Freemasonry, and invoke action against the 
order. No party resolution was passed, except one which as- 
serted that Freemasonry and free government could not coexist. 
It recommended the calling of a State convention at Utica in 
the following August, and appointed Samuel Works, Henry Ely, 
Frederick F. Bachus, Frederick Whittlesey, and Thurlow Weed 
a general central committee ; and these gentlemen, with the addi- 
tion of Bates Cook and Timothy Fitch, constituted such commit- 
tee so long as Anti-Masonry remained a political issue. 

The Utica convention met according to appointment. It " re- 
solved as a measure necessary to counteract the influence and 
destroy the existence of Masonic societies, that it is expedient for 
this convention, in pursuit of the good objects to be accom- 
phshed, wholly to disregard the two great political parties that 
at this time distract the State and nation, in the choice of candi- 
dates for office, and to nominate Anti-Masonic candidates for 
governor and lieutenant governor;" and the convention accord- 
ingly named Francis Granger of Ontario and John Crary of 
Washington County for these positions. Mr. Granger had 
already been put in nomination for the office of lieutenant 
governor by the National Republican party on a ticket headed 
by Judge Smith Thompson for governor. This party sup- 
ported Mr. Adams for president, and Mr. Granger had to choose 
between his political convictions, which were anti-Jackson, and 
his social and moral opinions which were opposed to Masonry. 
He accepted the nomination for lieutenant governor tendered by 
the National Republicans, and was roundly abused by the Anti- 
Masons for so doing. Almost every event of consequence at 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 203 

this time seemed to stimulate the Anti-Masonic excitement. The 
people denounced Mr. Granger and determined, come weal come 
woe, to have candidates for governor and lieutenant governor 
who represented the Anti-Masonic sentiment. In their hot- 
headed and intemperate zeal they went off half-cock and filled 
out their ticket by nominating for governor in place of Mr. 
Granger, Solomon Southwick of Albany. Mr. Crary remained 
on the ticket although he had positively promised his neighbor 
Samuel Stevens (who was specially commissioned to see him re- 
garding the matter) to write a letter of declination as soon as 
possible after Mr. Granger's should be made public. Mr. South- 
wick was editor of a newspaper in Albany, but was what practical, 
clear-headed men call a scatterbrain and blatherskite, was vision- 
ary, pompous, and self-assertive, and, through these and other de- 
fects of character, had become bankrupt in pecuniary resources 
and political reputation. He had been a Mason, but had re- 
nounced his associations with that organization, and had acted 
in concert with recalcitrant Masons in the western counties in pre- 
paring for publication a general renunciation and exposition of 
Masonry. Many Anti-Masons of the better class refused to sup- 
port him, and a number of county conventions decHned to concur 
in his nomination. Messrs. Van Buren and Throop were elected 
by a minority vote, receiving 136,794 ballots as against 106,444 
for Thompson and Granger, and 33,345 for Southwick and 
Crary. This defeat by no means disheartened the Anti-Masonic 
party, and in 1829 they elected Albert H. Tracy senator from 
the eighth district by a majority of 8,000 votes, and carried the 
counties of Erie, Niagara, Orleans, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, 
Allegany, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Steuben, Seneca, and 
Washington, polling, as was computed, about 67,000 votes. 

An Anti-Masonic convention was held at Albany in February, 
1829, and another in the same month in 1830. The latter as- 
semblage after passage of the usual resolutions denunciatory of 
Masonry, and providing for calling a State convention to nom- 
inate a candidate for governor, brought forward specific charges 
against the grand chapter of the State for furnishing funds to 
aid the abductors of Morgan in escaping from justice, and peti- 
tioned the legislature, then in session, to appoint a committee with 
authority to summon witnesses, and send for persons and papers, 
to the end that the action of the grand chapter in interfering 
with the administration of the laws might be thoroughly sifted 



204 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

and investigated. By referring the whole matter to the attorney 
general the legislature in effect refused the committee, and the 
majority of that body were charged with being hostile to any 
inquiry into the misdeeds of Masonry. 

A State convention of Anti-Masons was held at Utica in Au- 
gust, 1830. The party had forgotten its denunciation of Mr. 
Granger for refusing to accept its first nomination, and placed 
him at the head of its ticket with Samuel Stevens of New York 
for lieutenant governor. The National Republicans generally 
concurred in these nominations. The election was warmly con- 
tested, and resulted in the election of Governor Throop by a 
little more than 8,000 majority. An Anti-Masonic national con- 
vention met in Baltimore in 1832 and nominated William Wirt 
for president. He was defeated by Andrew Jackson. A New 
York convention in the same year again nominated Francis 
Granger for governor and Samuel Stevens for lieutenant gov- 
ernor. They were defeated by William L. Marcy by nearly 
10,000 votes. This practically ended political Anti-Masonry. 
It was thenceforward merged in the whig party which came into 
power by the election of Mr. Seward as governor in 1838. 

In looking back over these events it seems a marvel that Anti- 
Masonry should have become so great and vital a power; dom- 
inating, as it did for more than four years, the politics of the 
State west of Cayuga Bridge, and twice coming within a few 
thousand votes of obtaining mastery from Long Island to Lake 
Erie. Much as we value human life the fate of no one individual 
could have been the sole cause of kindling and keeping alive 
for years the fiery indignation of the people against the institu- 
tion of Masonry. Above and beyond all thought of Morgan 
and his fate was the settled conviction in the minds of law-abid- 
ing men that Masonry required of its adherents such oaths, and 
the performance toward each other of such obligations, as un- 
fitted them for the duties of good citizenship in any community 
where questions of life, liberty, and property might arise be- 
tween those who were Masons and those who were not. There 
was the apparently well-founded belief that Masons regarded 
the secrets of their craft as more inviolable than the laws of the 
land, more sacred than human life, and that the one might be 
trampled under foot, and the other sacrificed, to prevent the 
proceedings within a Masonic lodge from becoming known to 
anyone outside its walls. And in thus exalting the laws of the 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 205 

lodge above the law of the land, Masons brought upon themselves 
a storm of fiery opposition that practically annihilated their 
order in Western New York, seriously threatened its existence 
throughout the State, and rendered it for a long time unpopular 
throughout the length and breadth of the land. 

I shall venture no opinion as to the fate of William Morgan. 
Members of the Masonic fraternity have always asserted in the 
most positive way that his life was not taken by anyone connected 
with their order. The following letter addressed to Mr. Spencer 
during his connection with the Anti-Masonic trials gives the cur- 
rent Masonic view of his disappearance : 

"Sir — 

" It is useless for you to attempt to convict any person for 
killing Morgan, for he is still alive. He was taken to Canada, 
the Canada lodges refused to receive him. He was offered a 
large sum of money to leave the country forever and to leave 
immediately. If he refused, death would follow sure and certain. 
As he published his book for money he was willing to banish 
himself for a price. He is now in a foreign country under an 
assumed name, and he will never be heard from again. * Murder 
will out,' they say, but as Morgan was never murdered there is 
in this case no murder to come out. Time will pass on, you will 
go to the grave, and so shall I, and so will all that now live, but 
it will never turn out that Morgan was murdered. 

" Invisible, But True." 

It will occur to most people that if the statements in this 
letter are true Morgan was a more mercenary and heartless 
wretch than even his detractors have charged him with being. 
To abandon home, and country, and wife and children, for the 
traitorous silver of Judas, was an act of sordid cruelty almost 
beyond belief. 

Judge Hammond in his " Political History " says : I assume 
as a historical truth, and I regret that I am compelled to do so, 
that William Morgan was, with a view of preventing the dis- 
closure of the mysteries of Masonry, murdered in cold blood 
by men holding a respectable rank and standing in society." 

Hon. William Marcy who wrote the opinion of the full bench 
in the case of the People against Mather, and who presided at the 
trial of Jewett, was probably more familiar with the legal aspects 



206 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

of the Anti-Masonic cases than any other person except Mr. 
Spencer. His opinion was summarized as follows : " The mys- 
terious obscurity which hangs over this affair justifies a well- 
founded suspicion that Morgan came to an untimely end." 

The opinion of one more person, himself an actor in a sub- 
ordinate way in this dark drama, will be quoted. A wealthy 
stage proprietor by the name of Ganson was indicted for being 
concerned in the abduction of Morgan. It was shown that one 
of his coaches was used in the conveyance of Morgan over a part 
of the route traversed by his captors. The driver of the coach 
was placed upon the witness stand. 

" Who gave you the waybill that night ?" asked the public 
prosecutor. 

" I don't remember." 

" Who was in the coach when you started from Batavia ? " 

" I think there was three men ; one of them I think was Mor- 
gan." 

" Who shut the coach door ? " 

" I can't tell." 

*' Did you receive directions from any person ? " 

*' Yes ; somebody told me to drive like hell, for there was a man 
inside who was bound for that place." 

" Did you obey orders ? " 

" I think one of the men went through," was the reply. 

What goes on within the precincts of a Masonic lodge is 
matter of concern to members of the fraternity only. Having 
made this statement, I shall contravene it by saying that my 
Masonic friends (I have scores of them, and esteem them highly) 
go through performances that to an outsider look like a com- 
bination of mummery, superstition, horseplay, and burlesque. 
But this opinion is based upon the supposition that the so-called 
mysteries were correctly revealed by Morgan. If they were and 
are true in every detail, I see no reason why any level-headed 
Mason should object to their publication. It is one of the mar- 
vels of the 19th century that a proposal to print and circu- 
late them should have created such a frenzy of opposition in 
Masonic circles, and led to such high-handed and illegal pro- 
ceedings as were taken against the work and its author. No 
Mason with half a grain of sense would to-day give himself the 
least trouble to prevent their publication. A more absolutely 
inconsequential mess of rubbish was never printed and bound. 



MORGAN AND ANTI-MASONRY 207 

Any person who should commit the entire book to memory, and 
practice every word, look, nod, grip, motion, and genu- 
flection, until he had reached what he believed to be complete 
mastery of every detail, and should by such means gain ad- 
mission to a lodge, would be detected and exposed before he had 
been there half an hour, and whatever punishment is merited by 
a sneak and blackguard ought to be administered to him on the 
spot. And this leads me to say, in conclusion, that Morgan and 
his codajutor in the publication of his revelations were not men 
of high tone and standing in the community where they lived, and 
that their pamphlet, published for pecuniary gain, was the work 
of sneaks and perjurers, who were hardly entitled to sympathy. 
In saying this it is not meant to excuse Masonic violations of the 
law, much less to justify Masons in taking human life. But 
whatever may be individual opinion concerning his fate, it is only 
just to say that there is no legal proof that William Morgan 
was put to death by members of the Masonic fraternity. 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER 
KNOCKINGS. 

'* Knock, knock, knock: Who's there ? 
i' the name of Belzebub? " 



*' The earth hath bubbles,as the water has, 
And these are of them." 

— Macbeth. 

A NUMBER of new faiths, beliefs, religions, or dis- 
coveries relating to the spiritual world have found in 
the Genesee Country a home and origin, If not a per- 
manent abiding place. It was here that Jemima Wil- 
kinson planted her colony of followers, believing herself and 
them to be so far removed from prying neighbors and from the 
temptations abounding In the haunts of men that they could 
never again be surrounded by them — an error In itself sufficient 
to throw discredit upon the assumption that her nature was 
spiritual and the future to her an open book. 

Here, too, Joseph Smith, junior, found, or pretended to have 
found, the golden plates, with the wonderful hieroglyphics 
engraved thereon, from which was translated the Mormon Bible. 
Joseph seems to have been the corollary of Jemima — the Infer- 
ence derived from a preceding proposition. He lived for fifteen 
years within a score of miles from her settlement, which was well 
known to all the country around, — saw her surrounded with 
all the comforts of life, and as many of its luxuries as were cur- 
rent at that period; the mistress of thousands of broad acres, 
with houses, barns, horses, carriages, purple and fine linen — 
all without labor, money, or price — the free gifts of her devoted 
adherents ; — is it any wnoder, then, seeing all this, that Joseph, 
who from his youth up had been miserably poor and constitu- 
tionally averse to work, should have concluded that the business 
of founding a new faith was rather a good one (for the founder) 
and one in which he would at once engage.'' He had the requi- 
site capital — low cunning and an adamantine front. He saw 
clearly the weak point in Jemima's creed — her prohibition of 
marriage — and went rather to the other extreme, for what is 
the good of a religion without followers.'' And here, too, the 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 209 

youthful daughters of a country blacksmith originated modem 
spiritualism. 

The humble abode in which a faith numbering more than two 
milHon adherents had its birth is located on the farm of Artemas 
W. Hyde, Esquire, about two and a half miles in a northeasterly 
direction from the village of Newark in the County of Wayne. 
Intended for the occupancy of a mechanic or farm laborer, it 
was never a structure of much pretension, and the wear and tear 
of nearly three-quarters of a century has added nothing to its 
appearance. A renewal of the siding some years ago and a coat 
of pea-green paint have given it rather a smart exterior, but 
inside it is low-studded, shabby, and tumble-down. There are 
three rooms on the ground floor, but if there are any above they 
must be directly under the ridge-pole, as the house is but one 
story in height. 

The faith, belief, doctrine, or whatever other name may be 
given to the discovery of these young ladies, is too nearly con- 
temporaneous to have a prominent place in pioneer history; 
and as it has been absolutely repudiated by them, and the means 
by which the so-called spiritual manifestations were produced 
fully and publicly exposed, I shall attempt only an outline of its 
origin and early progress. 

In December, 1847, the family of Mr. John D. Fox moved 
from Rochester into the little tenement which has been described. 
It consisted at the time of the father, mother, and two daughter 
named Margaretta and Catharine, aged respectively about fif- 
teen and twelve years. An elder sister, Ann, was the wife of Mr. 
Fish of Rochester, and a son David lived on a farm near the 
house in which the spirits first manifested themselves in an 
auricular way. The family of Mr. Fox moved into Mr. Hyde's 
tenement, as has been stated, in December, 1847, and, at Mr. 
Hyde's earnest request, moved out in May, 1848, returning 
whence they came; therefore the thumping, by means of which 
communication between the spiritual and material worlds was 
carried on, got the name of " Rochester Knockings." These 
knockings were first heard one evening in the latter part of 
March, 1848. After the Fox family had retired for the night, 
but before all were asleep, a noise which appeared to proceed 
from the bedroom in which the young ladies slept, and which 
sounded as though some one was knocking lightly on the floor, 
was heard. The entire household got up and searched the 



210 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

premises thoroughly, but could discover no cause for the sounds. 
It was said that a perceptible jar was felt by placing the hands 
on bedposts and chairs and also while standing on the floor. 
Nothing strange, so far as the jarring is concerned. The old 
house was so shaky that the movement of a child across the floor 
would cause it, and everything standing on it, to vibrate. The 
sounds were continued as long as anyone was awake, or, rather, 
as long as the young ladies were awake, for, by their own con- 
fession and public demonstration, it has been shown that they 
produced the raps that were supposed to emanate from the spirit 
world. Next evening the noises were heard again, and on the 
following night the neighbors were called in. On the last even- 
ing of March, 1848, after Mr, Hyde had retired for the night, a 
hurried rap on his door summoned him from his slumbers. A 
neighbor, so much excited as to be hardly intelligible, informed 
him that a murder had been committed in the little tenement of 
which he was the owner, and that his immediate presence there 
was desired. On the way over, Mr. Hyde, much to his relief, 
learned that the homicide was not a recent one, but had been com- 
mitted some years before, and that spirits were revealing it by 
means of raps which could be heard distinctly. Being a level- 
headed, shrewd, well-educated, and wealthy man, he at 
once concluded that his neighbor had been sent on 
a fool's errand, and has never changed his mind. He 
has often said that if he had next day built a high fence around 
his tenant house and charged one dollar admission to the premises 
he would probably have strangled modem spiritualism in its 
cradle. 

The country for miles around was in a state of feverish excite- 
ment over the supernatural revelations. The story that a mur- 
der had been committed flew on the wings of the wind and gath- 
ered detail on its way. People were all the more ready to believe 
it, because the ghostly victim revealed from the spirit world the 

" Deep damnation of his taking off." 

Evidence that in the court of a country justice would not have 
been sufficient to convict an American citizen of African descent 
of stealing a pullet was thought by an excited populace to be 
strong as proofs from Holy Writ that some one had done foul 
murder. The residents of the neighboring villages of Newark, 
Palmyra, and Lyons swarmed upon Mr. Hyde's premises. The 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 211 

rural population of two counties hitched their horses along his 
fences on each Sabbath day, and listened with open-mouthed won- 
der to the revelations said to have been made by the spirit of the 
victim. He was a peddler. His name, age, and birthplace were 
learned by means of raps, as will be hereafter explained. In the 
same way it was ascertained that he had been married, was the 
father of five children and had been murdered by a former resi- 
dent of the house and his body buried in the cellar. Exca- 
vations were at once begun, the volunteer grave-diggers little 
doubting that the gashed and gory body of the peddler would 
soon be unearthed. It is needless to say that no sign or trace of 
a dead body was found, and the ghastly farce of looking for one 
was soon discontinued. When it became evident that no remains 
were buried in the cellar, the spirits changed their tale and said 
the bones of the defunct had been exhumed by the murderer, 
placed in a piece of old stove pipe and thrown into Mud Creek, 
a deep and sluggish stream not far from the house; but a thor- 
ough raking of the creek failed to bring them to light. At this 
day the only mystery about the whole business is, how two girls 
of twelve and fifteen could at that period of their lives have so 
effectually humbugged an intelligent community. Annoyed and 
incommoded by the crowds attracted to his premises, and fully 
persuaded of the fraudulent nature of the so-called revelations, 
though not able at the time to account for them, Mr. Hyde be- 
sought his tenants to find other quarters, and they accordingly 
returned to Rochester. As it is not my intention to trace the 
faith which the Fox young ladies founded beyond the little vil- 
lage of Hydesville, we will go back and note its progress up to 
the time they left the premises where it originated. It is not 
believed by those acquainted with Mr. and Mrs. Fox that they 
had part or lot in originating the rappings, or knew until some 
time afterward that their daughters had the power of producing 
them. He had passed middle life, was a blacksmith by trade, and 
bore the reputation of being an honest, industrious mechanic. 
His wife, a woman of ordinary intelligence and blameless life, 
had never been noted for mental vagaries of any sort. If the 
daughters were prompted at all it must have been by their elder 
sister, Mrs. Fish, but evidence of her complicity during the resi- 
dence of the family in Hydesville is wholly wanting. The fol- 
lowing statement by IMrs. Fox was made soon after the rappings 
were first heard, and seems ingenuous enough. She says, in part : 



212 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

" On Friday night, we concluded to go to bed early and not let 
it disturb us ; if it came, we thought we would not mind it, but 
try and get a good night's rest. My husband was here on all 
these occasions, heard the noise, and helped search. It was very 
early when we went to bed on this night ; hardly dark. We went 
to bed so early, because we had been broken so much of our rest 
that I was almost sick. 

" My husband had not gone to bed when we first heard the 
noise on this evening. I had just laid down. It commenced 
as usual. I knew it from all other noises I had ever heard in the 
house. The girls, who slept in the other bed in the room, 
heard the noise, and tried to make a similar noise by snapping 
their fingers. The youngest girl is about twelve years old; 
she is the one who made her hand go. As fast as she made the 
noise with her hands or fingers, the sound was followed up in the 
room. It did not sound any different at that time, only it made 
the same number of noises that the girl did. When she stopped, 
the sound itself stopped for a short time. 

" The other girl who is in her fifteenth year, then spoke in 
sport, and said, ' Now, do just as I do. Count one, two, three 
four,' etc., striking one hand in the other at the same time. The 
blows which she made were repeated as before. It appeared to 
answer her by repeating every blow that she made. She only 
did so once. She then began to be startled and then I spoke and 
said to the noise, * Count ten,' and it made ten strokes or noises. 
Then I asked the ages of my different children successively, and 
it gave a number of raps, corresponding to the ages of my chil- 
dren. 

" I then asked if it was a human being that was making the 
noise; and if it was, to manifest it by the same noise. There 
was no noise. I then asked if it was a spirit ; and if it was, to 
manifest it by two sounds ; I heard two sounds as soon as the 
words were spoken. I then asked, if it was an injured spirit, 
to give me the sound, and I heard the rapping distinctly. I then 
asked if it was injured in this house; and it manifested it by the 
noise. If the person was living that injured it; and got the 
same answer. I then ascertained by the same method that its 
remains were buried under the dwelling, and how old it was. 
When I asked how many years old it was ; it rapped thirty-one 
times ; that it was a male ; that it had left a family of five chil- 
dren; that it had two sons and three daughters, all living. I 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 213 

asked if it left a wife ; and it rapped. If its wife was then liv- 
ing; no rapping. If she was dead; and the rapping was dis- 
tinctly heard. How long it had been dead ; and it rapped twice." 

Mrs. Fox asked if the noises would continue if she called in 
the neighbors that they might hear it. There was rapping the 
same as when it was supposed affirmative answers were given. 
Mrs. Redfield, the nearest neighbor, was first called. The chil- 
dren had informed her previously, that strange noises were heard 
in the house, and she went, thinking to have some sport with the 
family. She found the girls very much agitated. Mrs. Fox 
said, " Mrs. Redfield, what shall we do .'' We have heard the 
noise for some time, and now it answers all our questions, and we 
cannot account for it." 

Mrs. R. heard the sounds, and commenced asking questions, 
which were answered correctly, greatly to her astonishment. 
She says the girls continued to be much frightened, and she told 
them not to be afraid; if it was a revelation from the spirit 
world, it was not to injure them. One of the girls said with 
much feeling, — " We are innocent ; how good it is to have a 
clear conscience ! " 

Messrs. Redfield, Duesler, Hyde, Jewell, and their wives were 
subsequently called during the same evening. They asked many 
questions, and received answers. Questions relating to the age, 
number of children, etc., of the persons present, are said to 
have been answered correctly. Mr. Fox and Mr. Redfield re- 
mained in the house during the night. Mrs. Fox and her daugh- 
ters spent the night at the house of one of the neighbors. 

The following is a portion of a statement made by a neigh- 
bor who attempted, without success, to unravel the mysteries of 
the Fox dwelling, and unearth the murdered peddler : 

" I went over again on Sunday, between one and two o'clock, 
P. M. I went into the cellar with several others, and had them 
all leave the house over our heads ; and then I asked, if there 
had been a man buried in that cellar, to manifest it by rapping 
or any other noise or sign. The moment I asked the question, 
there was a sound like the falling of a stick, about a foot long 
and half an inch through, on the floor in the bedroom over our 
heads. It did not seem to bound at all ; there was but one sound. 
I then told Stephen Smith to go right up and examine the room, 
and see if he could discover the cause of the noise. He came 



214 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

back and said he could discover nothing, — that there was no 
one in the room, or in that part of the house. I then asked two 
more questions, and it rapped in the usual way. We all then 
went upstairs, and made a thorough search around the rooms, 
but could find nothing. 

" I then got a knife and fork and tried to see if I could make 
the same noise by dropping them, but I could not. This was all 
I heard on Sunday. There is only one floor, or partition, or 
thickness between the bedroom and cellar — no place where any- 
thing could be secreted to make the noise. When the noise was 
heard in the bedroom, I could feel a slight tremulous motion or 
jar. 

" There was some digging in the cellar on Saturdaj' night. 
They dug until they came to water, and then gave it up. The 
question had been previously asked, whether it was right that 
they should dig on that night ; and there was no rapping. Then 
whether it was wrong; and the rapping was heard. Whether 
they should dig on Sunday ; no rapping. On Monday ; and the 
rapping commenced again. However, some insisted on digging 
at this time, and dug accordingly, but with no success. 

" On Monday night heard this noise again, and asked the 
same questions I did before, and got the same answers. This 
is the last time I have heard the rapping. I can in no way ac- 
count for this singular noise, which I and others have heard. It 
is a mystery to me, which I am wholly unable to solve. I am will- 
ing to testify under oath that I did not make the noises or rap- 
ping which I and others heard ; that I do not know of any person 
who did or could have made them ; that I have spent considerable 
time since then, in order to satisfy myself as to the cause of it, 
but cannot account for it on any other ground than that it is 
supernatural. I lived in the same house about seven years ago, 
and at that time never heard any noises of the kind in and about 
the premises. * * * 

" I never believed in haunted houses, or heard or saw any- 
thing but what I could account for before; but this I cannot 
account for. 

" (Signed) Wm. Duesler. 

"April n, 1848." 

Before the removal of the family to Rochester, Mrs. Fox and 
her daughters, including Mrs. Fish, had established a code of 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 215 

signals with the spirits. One rap meant no ; two, yes ; three or 
four, undecided; and five in quick succession, that the question 
could not be answered by yes or no, but recourse must be had to 
the alphabet. The manner in which the letters were used may 
be learned from the following brief statement signed by several 
members of the family: 

" During the first inquiries to learn the name of the person 
who was represented as the injured spirit, it was asked if it would 
rap at the initials of his name. It rapped in the affirmative, 
and on calling over the letters, it rapped at the letters C, R ; and 
at a subsequent period, David Fox, one of the family, spent 
several hours in communication with it, and learned the whole 
name; and afterwards Mrs. A. S. Fish learned that five succes- 
sive raps were an indication, or signal, to repeat the alphabet, 
when questions were asked, to which a simple negative or affirma- 
tive would not be a correct reply without qualification. 

" It is thus that directions are now given in answer to ques- 
tions; and often it voluntarily calls by the signal for the 
alphabet, and communicates entire sentences, many of them in- 
teresting, and of considerable length. 

" Mrs. Ann L. Fish, 
" Mrs. Margaret Fox, 
" C. R. Brown, 
" David S. Fox. 
" Rochester, March 6, 1850." 

As will be seen by the statements, the family had for some 
time been residents of Rochester. The young ladies had upon 
their arrival in that city been taken in charge by their eldest 
sister, Mrs. Fish, under whose chaperonage spiritual " seances " 
began, and were continued until more ambitious aspirants for 
spiritual honors outbid the original mediums and supplanted 
them in popular favor. The Fox sisters stopped at rapping 
and table tipping, the public appetite for which was soon ap- 
peased. Then came LaRoy Sunderland, the Eddy Brothers, 
Foster, Hume, Cora Hatch, the Davenport Brothers, and last, 
but by no means least. Madam Dis Debar. Scattered amongst 
these greater lights was a crowd of mediums and clairvoyants 
who exhibited for a consideration their powers in dingy and 
awe-inspiring apartments in all the great cities of the country. 



216 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

The spirits no longer deigned to communicate by means of 
vulgar thumps, but betook themselves to a very legible kind of 
writing, to painting works of art, to interpreting the thoughts 
of their patrons, to viva voce colloquies, in which the tone of 
voice and manner of speaking were a curious and sometimes 
rather startling imitation of the original when on earth. No 
one well acquainted with the late Mr. Lawrence Jerome ever 
thought him a man who could be easily awed or humbugged, but 
after a spiritual interview with his old friend Richard Schell he 
said to me, " It was Uncle Dick's voice exactly and had his peculi- 
arities of pronunciation and expression. If you don't want to 
believe in this thing, don't go near it." 

In Professor Sinnett's work on Esoteric Buddhism an attempt 
is made to explain the phenomena which puzzled Mr. Jerome: 
Premising that the Professor is a believer in all sorts of occult 
manifestations, including spiritual mediumship, I quote : " It 
is possible, however, for yet living persons to have visions of 
Devachan,* though such visions are rare, and only one-sided, 
the entities in Devachan sighted by the earthly clairvoyant being 
quite unconscious themselves of undergoing such observation. 
The spirit of the clairvoyant ascends into the condition of De- 
vachan in such rare visions, and thus becomes subject to the 
vivid delusions of that existence. It is under the impression 
that the spirits, with which it is in Devachan bonds of sympathy, 
have come down to visit earth and itself, while the converse oper- 
ation has really taken place. The clairvoyant's spirit has been 
raised toward those in Devachan. Thus many of the subjective 
spiritual communications — most of them when the sensitives 
are pure minded — are real, though It is most difficult for the 
uninitiated medium to fix In his mind the true and correct pic- 
tures of what he sees and hears. In the same way some of the 
phenomena called psychography — though more rarely — are 
also real. The spirit of the sensitive, getting odylized, so to 
say, by the aura of the spirit In the Devachan, becomes for a 
few minutes that departed personality, and writes in the hand- 
writing of the latter, in his language and in his thoughts, as 
they were during his lifetime. The two spirits become blended 
in one, and the preponderance of one over the other during such 
phenomena determines the preponderance of personality In the 
characteristics exhibited. Thus, it may be incidentally observed, 

* He defines Devachan as a " state or condition — not a locality." 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 217 

what is called rapport, Is, in plain fact, an identity of molecu- 
lar vibration between the astral part of the incarnate medium and 
the astral part of the disincarnate personality." 

There is much more of the same sort, though by no means so 
clear as what has been quoted. 

"He who iinderstands it would be able 
To add a story to the Tower of Babel." 

One of the first attempts by scientific men to account for the 
rappings was made during a visit of the Fox sisters to Buffalo 
by Doctors Austin Flint, Charles A. Lee, and C. B. Coventry of 
the University of that city. These gentlemen being, of course, 
aware of the fact well known to all surgeons, that dislocated bones 
return to their place with an audible snap, conducted their in- 
vestigations with a view to ascertaining whether the sisters 
produced the sounds heard, by means of their toe, ankle, or knee 
joints, and became thoroughly convinced that they did so. The 
result of a number of examinations of Mrs. Fish and her sister 
Margaretta, was published in the Buffalo Medical Journal, 
March, 1851. In It the professional gentlemen before named say: 
" Having traced the knockings to their source, explained the 
mechanism of their production, and thus divested them of their 
supernatural character, and of all mystery, we turn to another 
aspect presented by the field of Inquiry," et cetera. The exposures 
made by the Fox sisters at the Academy of Music in New York, 
in 1888, fully demonstrated that Messrs. Flint, Lee, and Coven- 
try made a correct diagnosis thirty-seven years before. In a 
personal letter to the New York Tribune, dated February 28, 
1851, Doctor Charles A. Lee, one of the three medical gentlemen 
named, gives a full account of a private " seance " with Mrs. Fish 
and Miss Fox, at which a few friends of both parties were pres- 
ent, the object of which was to show on the part of the ladies 
that they had no agency In producing the raps, and on the part 
of the doctor that they had. The result showed most conclu- 
sively that when proper precautions were taken to prevent the 
ladies from snapping their joints, no sounds were heard, thereby 
establishing the fact that the rappings were physical and not 
spiritual. Unrestrained, the ladles produced the sounds at will. 
A writer in the New York Express, over the signature of Shad- 
rack Barnes, exposed the science of toeology, and in private 
seances demonstrated his ability to rap loudly, and though 



218 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

all were looking at his feet no motion of them could be dis- 
covered. 

But this did not stop the progress of the Fox girls. They 
visited nearly every large town and city in the Union, holding 
crowded seances at one dollar per head admission, and had 
they not been superseded by more inventive and expert per- 
formers would doubtless have amassed considerable money. 
Exposure, however, went hand in hand with the new schemes 
brought forward to astonish and awe the credulous, and draw 
money from the curious. Examination showed the Eddy 
Brothers to be impostors, whose house in Vermont was strung with 
wires by means of which their wonders were performed. These 
wires were concealed between the sheathing and plastering. Any 
of the skillful prestidigitators now before the public can outdo 
the Davenport Brothers at their own mysterious cabinet trick, 
and can produce spiritual writing or painting equal to that of 
Foster or Madam Dis Debar. 

Although an inscription over the door of the little house in 
Wayne County states that spiritualism originated there, the 
announcement is hardly correct. The idea of spiritualistic com- 
munication is not modem. Swift satirized it nearly two cen- 
turies ago. In his voyage to Glubbdubdrib, that veracious 
traveler, Lemuel Gulliver, tells us that he found the island in- 
habited by spirits — its name signifying the land of sorcerers 
and magicians. He says : " I soon grew so familiarized to the 
sight of spirits that after the third or fourth time they gave me 
no emotion at all, or, if I had any apprehensions left, my curi- 
osity prevailed over them. For his Highness the Governor 
ordered me to call up (were they all below.?) whatever persons 
I would choose to name from the beginning of the world up to 
the present time, and command them to answer any questions 
I should think fit to ask. I accordingly demanded Alexander 
the Great, who assured me that he was not poisoned, but died of 
a bad fever by excessive drinking. I next called up Hannibal 
who told me he had never a drop of vinegar in his camp. Cagsar, 
Brutus, and Pompey were next brought forward. I found the 
first two in very good accord ; Caesar freely confessing that the 
greatest actions of his life were not equal by many degrees to the 
glory of taking it away." Socrates, Epaminondas, Cato, Homer, 
and Aristotle were successively interviewed, and furnished shafts 
for some of Swift's keenest satire. He traced the ancestry of 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 219 

great families, showing their mental, moral, and physical de- 
terioration, and says : " Neither could I wonder at all this, 
when I saw such an interruption of lineages by pages, lackeys, 
coachmen, valets, gamesters, players, captains, and pickpockets." 
Thus it will be seen that the idea of communication with those 
who have gone before is not new. It existed in Swift's mind, 
and has never had any other existence with him or his successors. 
But while with Swift it was a figment of imagination and a vehicle 
for satire, it has appealed to many acute intellects with all the 
power of faith supported by the sanctions of reason. Men of 
cultivated minds and strong will power have in all ages been 
carried away by spiritualism or its equivalent under some other 
designation. Keen intellects are quite as ready as dull ones to 
attribute to supernatural agencies those things which they are 
unable to comprehend, and men whose incredulity in regard to 
matters of fact outside of their observation and experience 
amounts almost to a disease are ready enough to believe in spirits, 
ghosts, vampires, and other " insubstantial pageants." Doctor 
Samuel Johnson may be quoted as a conspicuous example of this 
class. He knew very little of the world outside of London, and 
beyond the circle of his daily ramble from the Rainbow Tavern, 
Fleet Street, to Charing Cross, he knew very little of that. 
Macaulay says that " he talked of remote countries and past 
times with wild and ignorant presumption, and could discern 
clearly enough the folly and meanness of all bigotry ex- 
cept his own." And, having seen nothing of mankind and of 
the world, he believed nothing he had not seen. He browbeat 
into silence a gentleman who was giving a truthful account of 
hurricanes in the West Indies, and almost gave the lie direct to 
a modest Quaker who told him that red-hot balls were fired at the 
siege of Gibraltar. " Never tell that story again," said the 
bumptious old Doctor, " you cannot think how poor a figure you 
make, relating anything so improbable." Yet he believed in 
ghosts — if located in London — and went to hunt one in Cock 
Lane. One whole compartment of Sir Walter Scott's library 
at Abbotsford was full of volumes having reference to the ghosts, 
spirits, witches, and other supernatural agencies with which his 
poetry and romance abound. And if these distinguished men 
had lived in Rochester or New York in the middle of the nine- 
teenth century it is highly probable that Judge Edmonds, Louis 
Napoleon, Commodore Vanderbilt, and Luther R. Marsh would 



220 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

not have been most conspicuous among the behevers in spiritual- 
ism. For there is no doubt that faith in the unseen, unknown, 
and unknowable is one of the strongest elements of man's nature, 
whether he be prince or peasant, learned or unlettered ; for such 
faith is the foundation upon which all creeds from Bramah and 
Buddha to Joanna Southcote and Joe Smith have been built. 
Men will admit that they may be mistaken regarding occurrences 
which took place yesterday before their very eyes, but faith 
implies something beyond the world of fact and demonstration, 
something that can neither be proved or disproved, and there- 
fore they cling to it with a firmness which the axe and the fagot 
have no power to shake. The Mormon believes that Joseph Smith 
had direct revelations from the Most High: It is impossible 
to prove that he did not. Men of intelligence and cultivated 
minds bought Joanna's " Seals," believing them to possess a 
mysterious power for good in the affairs of this life and of the 
life to come. The Fox sisters claimed communication with the 
spirit world, and the falsity of this claim was never quite satis- 
factorily established until they themselves did it. Even their 
confession has not shaken the faith of one in a hundred of the 
believers in spiritualism. Although they originated the latter- 
day manifestations, they are regarded as apostates, whose as- 
sertions were good enough to found a faith but are not good 
enough to overthrow it. And here the question naturally pro- 
pounds itself: Did the Fox sisters found a faith.? Is spiritual- 
ism entitled to be called a religious belief? An article in the 
Baptist Quarterly for April, 1888, by the Rev. Stanley McKay, 
of Canandaigua, giving a sketch of the origin of Mormonism 
and Spiritualism styles them " Two American Religions." So 
far as Mormonism is concerned it is doubtless entitled to the 
appellation. It has a church polity and government, a doc- 
trine and covenants; has built houses and temples of worship, 
and maintained in them all customary religious forms and ob- 
servances. Whatever may be its future, it has for nearl3^ sixty 
years been an aggressive, concentrative, and defiant faith. 
Spiritualism has accomplished none of these things. It is dif- 
fusive, and is scattered over the earth, each one of its adherents 
a law unto himself or herself. At one period the believers in 
spiritualism hired a hall and listened on the Sabbath to the mild 
rhapsodies of Cora Hatch, or the transcendental rubbish of a 
long-haired advocate of the other sex, but even this is no longer 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 221 

the vogue. Without local habitation, creed, or doctrine, spiritu- 
alism drifts hither and thither upon the shifting waves of specu- 
lation, each individual believing and teaching whatever at the 
moment is uppermost in his own disordered mind. It has formu- 
lated no dogmas, and fulminated no anathemas. It does not 
undertake to bind the consciences or direct the footsteps of its 
followers. Agnosticism and infidelity are no bar to its fold, 
which seems to be the natural refuge of free thinking. The Fox 
sisters make a public exposition of the humbug of the knockings 
and the world looks on and jeers. But if Joseph Smith, Junior, 
were alive to-day, as he might easily be, and should make a clear 
exposure of the frauds upon which the Mormon creed is based, 
his life would not be worth eight-and-forty hours' purchase. 
The Danites, the Destroying Angels, and the Avengers of Blood, 
tolerate no apostasy, high or low. Good or bad, the doctrine 
taught in the church founded by Smith, and strengthened and 
broadened by the power and ability of Brigham Young, may 
fairly be called an American religion; but the slack-twisted, 
scatter-brained theories of individual spiritualists are entitled 
to no such distinction. But by whatever names the two systems 
may be known, it is evident that their decay is rapidly progress- 
ing, and within a near period they seem destined to a common 
oblivion. The gentile rules in Salt Lake City. The head of 
the church proclaimed not long ago that there were to be no more 
revelations, notwithstanding which a recent interview between 
the Most High and Elder Woodruff has resulted in an announce- 
ment to the faithful that they must henceforward obey the laws 
of the land rather than the laws of the hierarchy. This strangles 
the other twin relic — polygamy. 

Spiritualism culminated within fifteen years after the Fox 
sisters reproduced it. It probably reached its height in the 
decade following its new birth. In the period from 1850 to 1860 
it had a startling growth. Every neighborhood had its medi- 
ums, and half the families in the land essayed table-tipping, if 
nothing beyond. In the Kremlin, the Tuilleries, and Bucking- 
ham Palace there were believers if not experts. Residents 
in the gilded homes of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and 
in the bark cabins located in the gulches and canyons of Cali- 
fornia alike essayed to get a peep behind the veil. Divinity, 
law, medicine, and literature furnished recruits — bright and 
shining ones — to the spiritualistic ranks. Louis Napoleon and 



222 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

Mr. Hume were on a most intimate footing. It is hard to decide 
even now which was the greater juggler. 

Perhaps no better illustration of the spread of spiritualism 
can be given than the following from Hawthorne's Italian Note 
Book, under date Florence, June 9, 1858. He was visiting the 
Brownings, and says : " There was no very noteworthy conver- 
sation; the most interesting topic being that disagreeable and 
now wearisome one of spiritual communications, as regards which 
Mrs. Browning is a believer and her husband an infidel. Brown- 
ing and his wife had both been present at a spiritual session held 
by Mr. Hume and had seen and felt the unearthly hands, one of 
which had placed a laurel wreath on Mrs. Browning's head. 
Browning, however, avowed his belief that these hands were 
affixed to the feet of Mr. Hume who lay extended in his chair 
with his legs stretched far under the table. The marvelousness 
of the fact melted strangely away in Browning's hearty gripe, 
and at the sharp touch of his logic ; while his wife ever and anon 
put in a litle word of gentle expostulation." It is easy to par- 
don in Mrs. Browning the vanity which was ready to defend 
the hand which had placed a laurel wreath upon her brow. 

The sculptor Powers and his wife were firm believers in the 
marvels of Mr. Hume, although the latter was unquestionably 
a knave. But he and his ilk are no longer permitted to rob the 
credulous with impunity as Madam Dis Debar has recently dis- 
covered. 

The offspring of falsehood and deceit, Mormonism and Spirit- 
ualism, were born in the same neighborhood, though a period of 
twenty years separates their natal days. It is possible that 
some individual life which antedates theirs will see them pass 
away as active and aggressive forces, and become a byword and 
a memory in the land of their origin. 

The story of the Cock Lane Ghost bears such a striking re- 
semblance to the early history of spiritualism as herein related, 
that I give it at length, as told in a work entitled Memoirs of 
Extraordinary Delusions, by Charles Mackay : 

" At the commencement of the year 1760, there resided in 
Cock Lane, near West Smithfield, in the house of one Parsons, 
the parish clerk of St. Sepulchre's, a stockbroker, named Kent. 
The wife of this gentleman had died in childbed during the 
previous year, and his sister-in-law. Miss Fanny, had arrived 
from Norfolk to keep his house for him. They soon conceived 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 223 

a mutual affection, and each of them made a will in the other's 
favor. They lived some months in the house of Parsons, who, 
being a needy man, borrowed money of his lodger. Some dif- 
ference arose betwixt them, and Mr. Kent left the house and 
instituted legal proceedings against the parish clerk for the re- 
covery of his money. 

" While this matter was yet pending, Miss Fanny was suddenly 
taken ill of the smallpox ; and, notwithstanding every care and 
attention, she died in a tew days, and was buried in a vault under 
Clerkenwell church. Parsons now began to hint that the poor 
lady had come unfairly by her death, and that Mr. Kent was ac- 
cessory to it, from his too great eagerness to enter into possession 
of the property she had bequeathed to him. Nothing further 
was said for nearly two years ; but it would appear that Parsons 
was of so revengeful a character, that he had never forgotten or 
forgiven his differences with Mr. Kent and the indignity of 
having been sued for the borrowed money. The strong passions 
of pride and avarice were silently at work during all that inter- 
val, hatching schemes of revenge, but dismissing them one after 
the other as impracticable, until, at last, a notable one suggested 
itself. About the beginning of the year 1762, the alarm was 
spread over all the neighborhood of Cock Lane that the house 
of Parsons was haunted by the ghost of poor Fanny, and that 
the daughter of Parsons, a girl about twelve years of age, had 
several times seen and conversed with the spirit, who had more- 
over. Informed her, that she had not died with the smallpox, as 
was currently reported, but of poison administered by Mr. 
Kent. Parsons, who originated, took good care to countenance 
these reports ; and, in answer to numerous inquiries, said his 
house was every night, and had been for two years, in fact, ever 
since the death of Fanny, troubled by a loud knocking at the 
doors and in the walls. Having thus prepared the ignorant 
and credulous neighbors to believe or exaggerate for themselves 
what he had told them, he sent for a gentleman in a higher class 
of life to come and witness these extraordinary occurrences. 
The gentleman came accordingly, and found the daughter of 
Parsons, to whom the spirit alone appeared, and whom alone it 
answered, in bed, trembling violently, having just seen the ghost, 
and been again informed that she had died from poison. A loud 
knocking was also heard from every part of the chamber, which 
so mystified the not very clear understanding of the visitor, that 



224 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

he departed, afraid to doubt and ashamed to believe, but with a 
promise to bring the clergyman of the parish and several other 
gentlemen on the following day to report upon the mystery. 

" On the following night he returned, bringing with him three 
clergymen and about twenty other persons, including two 
negroes, when, upon a consultation with Parsons, they resolved 
to sit up the whole night and await the ghost's arrival. It was 
then explained by Parsons, that although the ghost would never 
render itself visible to anybody but his daughter, it had no ob- 
jections to answer the questions that might be put to it by any 
person present, and that it expressed an affirmation by one knock, 
a negative by two, and its displeasure by a kind of scratching. 
The child was then put into bed along with her sister, and the 
clergymen examined the bed and bedclothes, to satisfy themselves 
that no trick was played, by knocking upon any substance con- 
cealed among the clothes. As on the previous night, the bed was 
observed to shake violently. 

" After some hours, during which they all waited with ex- 
emplary patience, the mysterious knocking was heard in the 
wall, and the child declared she saw the ghost of poor Fanny. 
The following questions were then gravely put by the clergymen, 
through the medium of one Mary Frazer, the servant of Parsons, 
and to whom it was said the deceased lady had been much at- 
tached. The answers were in the usual fashion, by a knock or 
knocks : — 

" ' Do you make this disturbance on account of the ill usage 
you received from Mr. Kent.'^ ' — 'Yes.' 

" ' Were you brought to an untimely end by poison .'' ' 
' Yes.' 

" ' How was the poison administered, in beer or purl.? ' — 
' In purl.' 

" 'How long was that before your death ? ' — * About three 
hours.' 

" ' Can your former servant, Carrots, give any informantion 
about the poison ? ' — ' Yes.' 

" ' Are you Kent's wife's sister.? ' — 'Yes.' 

"'Were you married to Kent after your sister's death.?' — 
*No.' 

" ' Was anybody else, besides Kent, concerned in your mur- 
der?'— 'No.' 

" ' Can you, if you like, appear visibly to anyone.? ' — ' Yes.* 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 225 

"'Willyoudoso?' — 'Yes.' 

" ' Can you come out of this house? ' — 'Yes.' 

" ' Is it your intention to follow this child about everywhere ? ' 
— * Yes.' 

" Are you pleased in being asked these questions ? ' — 
' Yes.' 

" ' Does it ease your troubled soul? ' — ' Yes.' 

[Here there was heard a mysterious noise, which some wise- 
acre present compared to the fluttering of wings.] 

" ' How long before your death did you tell your servant, 
Carrots, that you was poisoned? — An hour? ' — ' Yes.' 

[Carrots, who was present, was appealed to; but she stated 
positively that such was not the fact, as the deceased was quite 
speechless an hour before her death. This shook the faith of 
some of the spectators, but the examination was allowed to con- 
tinue.] 

" ' How long did Carrots live with you ? ' — * Three or four 
days.' 

[Carrots was again appealed to, and said this was the case.] 

" ' If Mr. Kent is arrested for this murder, will he confess ? ' 
— ' Yes.' 

" ' Would your soul be at rest if he were hanged for it? * — 
* Yes.' 

" ' Will he be hanged for it? ' — ' Yes.' 

" ' How long a time first? ' — ' Three years.' 

" ' How many clergymen are there in this room ? ' — 
' Three.' 

" ' How many negroes ? ' — ' Two.' 

" ' Is this watch (held up by one of the clergymen) white? ' 
— ' No.' 

"'Is it yellow?' — * No.' 

"'Is it blue? ' — 'No.' 

"'Is it black? ' — 'Yes.' 

[The watch was in a black shagreen case.] 

" ' At what time this morning will you take your departure ? ' 

" The answer to this question was four knocks, very distinctly 
heard by every person present ; and accordingly, at four o'clock 
precisely, the ghost took its departure to the Wheatsheaf public 
house, close by, where it frightened mine host and his lady almost 
out of their wits by knocking in the ceiling right above their 
bed. 



226 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

" The rumor of these occurrences very soon spread over Lon- 
don, and every day Cock Lane was rendered impassable by the 
crowd of people who assembled around the house of the parish 
clerk, in expectation of either seeing the ghost, or of hearing 
the mysterious knocks. It was at last found necessary, so clam- 
orous were they for admission within the haunted precinct, to 
admit those only who would pay a certain fee, an arrangement 
which was very convenient to the needy and money-loving Mr. 
Parsons. Indeed, things had taken a turn greatly to his satis- 
faction ; he not only had his revenge, but he made a profit out of 
it. The ghost, in consequence, played its antics every night, to 
the great amusement of many hundred people and the great per- 
plexity of a still greater number. 

" Unhappily, however, for the parish clerk, the ghost was in- 
duced to make some promises which were the means of utterly 
destroying its reputation. It promised, in answer to the ques- 
tions of the Reverend Mr. Aldritch of Clerkenwell, that it would 
not only follow the little Miss Parsons wherever she went, but 
would also attend him, or any other gentleman, into the vault 
under St. John's Church, where the body of the murdered woman 
was deposited, and would there give notice of its presence by a 
distinct knock upon the coffin. As a preliminary, the girl was 
conveyed to the church, where a large party of ladies and 
gentlemen, eminent for their acquirements, their rank, or their 
wealth, had assembled. About ten o'clock on the night of the first 
of February, the girl having been brought from Cock Lane in a 
coach, was put to bed by several ladies in the house of Mr. 
Aldritch, a strict examination having been previously made that 
nothing was hidden in the bedclothes. While the gentlemen, in 
an adjoining chamber, were deliberating whether they should 
proceed in a body to the vault, they were summoned into the 
bedroom by the ladies, who affirmed, in great alarm that the 
ghost had come, and that they heard knocks and scratches. The 
gentlemen entered accordingly, with a determination to suffer 
no deception. The little girl, on being asked whether she saw 
the ghost, replied, * No ; but she felt it on her back like a mouse.' 
She was then required to put her hands out of the bed, and they 
being held by some of the ladies, the spirit was summoned in the 
usual manner to answer, if it were in the room. The question 
was several times put with solemnity ; but the customary knock 
was not heard in reply in the walls, neither was there any scratch- 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCKINGS 227 

ing. The ghost was then asked to render itself visible, but it 
did not choose to grant the request. It was next solicited to 
give some token of any sort, or by touching the hand or cheek of 
any lady or gentleman in the room ; but even with this request the 
ghost would not comply. 

" There was now a considerable pause, and one of the clergy- 
men went down stairs to interrogate the father of the girl, who 
was waiting the result of the experiment. He positively denied 
that there was any deception, and even went so far as to say that 
he himself, upon one occasion, had seen and conversed with the 
awful ghost. This having been communicated to the company, 
it was unanimously resolved to give the ghost another trial ; and 
the clergyman called out in a loud voice to the supposed spirit 
that the gentleman to whom it had promised to appear in the 
vault was about to repair to that place, where he claimed the 
fulfillment of its promise. At one hour after midnight they all 
proceeded to the church, and the gentleman in question, with 
another entered the vault alone, and took their position alongside 
of the coffin of poor Fanny. The ghost was then summoned to 
appear, but it appeared not ; it was summoned to knock, but it 
knocked not ; it was summoned to scratch, but it scratched not ; 
and the two retired from the vault, with the firm belief that the 
whole business was a deception practised by Parsons and his 
daughter. There were others, however, who did not wish to 
jump so hastily to a conclusion, and who suggested that they 
were, perhaps, trifling with this awful and supernatural being, 
which, being off^ended with them for their presumption, would 
not condescend to answer them. Again, after a serious con- 
sultation, it was agreed on all hands that, if the ghost answered 
anybody at all, it would answer Mr. Kent, the supposed mur- 
derer; and he was accordingly requested to go into the vault. 
He went with several others, and summoned the ghost to answer 
whether he had indeed poisoned her. There being no answer, 
the question was put by Mr. Aldritch, who conjured it, if it were 
indeed a spirit, to end their doubts — make a sign of its presence, 
and point out the guilty persons. There being still no answer for 
the space of half an hour, during which time all these boobies waited 
with the most praiseworthy perseverance, they returned to the house 
of Mr. Aldritch, and ordered the girl to get up and dress herself. 
She was strictly examined, but persisted in her statement that she 
used no deception, and that the ghost had really appeared to her. 



228 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

" So many persons had, by their openly expressed belief of 
the reality of the visitation, identified themselves with it, that 
Parsons and his family were far from being the only persons 
interested in the continuance of the delusion. The result of 
the experiment convinced most people; but these were not to be 
convinced by any evidence, however positive, and they, therefore, 
spread abroad the rumor, that the ghost had not appeared in the 
vault because Mr. Kent had taken care beforehand to have the 
coffin removed. That gentleman, whose position was a very pain- 
ful one, immediately procured competent witnesses, in whose pres- 
ence the vault was entered and the coffin of poor Fanny opened. 
Their deposition was then published; and Mr. Kent indicted 
Parsons and his wife, his daughter, Mary Frazer the servant, 
the Reverend Mr. Moor, and a tradesman, two of the most 
prominent patrons of the deception, for a conspiracy. The 
trial came on in the court of King's Bench, on the 10th of July, 
before Lord Chief Justice Mansfield, when, after an investiga- 
tion which lasted twelve hours, the whole of the conspirators were 
found guilty. The Rev. Mr. Moor and his friend were severely 
reprimanded in open court, and recommended to make some 
pecuniary compensation to the prosecutor for the aspersions they 
had been instrumental in throwing upon his character. Parsons 
was sentenced to stand three times in the pillory, and to be im- 
prisoned for two years ; his wife to one year's and his servant to 
six months' imprisonment in the Bridewell. A printer, who had 
been employed by them to publish an account of the proceedings 
for their profit, was also fined fifty pounds, and discharged." 

If John Bell, the honest and inoffensive occupant of the little 
house in Hydesville at the time the peddler was said to have been 
murdered, had taken measures in imitation of the London stock- 
broker, and appealed to our courts against the conspirators 
who were trying to fasten upon him the commission of a capital 
crime, a result might have been reached which would have 
stamped out spirit-rapping as effectually as the decision of Lord 
Mansfield did in 1760. 

The last appearance of the Fox sisters was upon a different 
stage and with surroundings very different from those that wit- 
nessed their debut. The tumble-down tenement in Wayne 
County is exchanged for the crowded and brilliantly-lighted 
Academy of Music in New York. The girls of twelve and fif- 
teen have become middle-aged ladies. Margaretta — Mrs. 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCK INGS 229 

Kane — is upon the stage. Ker sister Catherine — Mrs. 
Jenkins — looks on approvingly from a stage box. A Tribune 
reporter shall tell the rest of the story. 

SPIRIT MEDIUMS OUTDONE. 



LIVELY RAPPINGS IN THE ACADEMY OF MUSIC. 



DR. RICHMOND AND ONE OF THE FOX SISTERS GIVE 
EXHIBITIONS OF THEIR SKILL BEFORE A REMARK- 
ABLY RESPONSIVE CROWD — SPIRITUALISM 
FORMALLY RENOUNCED. 

Dr. Cassius M. Richmond has been for some time advertising 
the death of spiritualism, coupled with the announcement on 
posters, appropriately bordered in deep black, that he is the 
new Jack-the-Giant-Killer who will slay it. He gave it a hard 
knock in the Academy of Music last night, where an immense 
audience assembled, most of the people in it to encourage him, 
others to hinder him, others to make nuisances of themselves. 
It was in many respects a rare and remarkable gathering. One 
could easily pick out in the crowded seats professional men of 
all sorts — ministers, physicians, and lawyers, scholarly men 
and women, men of repute in legitimate scientific research, others 
notorious in the walks of humbug, women well known by the 
frequenters of materialization " seances," the distinguished 
" cranks " who adorn every such occasion, and Sunday-night 
idlers who came from the same motive from which Artemus 
Ward's " Uncle Simon, he clum up a tree," namely, to see what 
they could see. 

Well, they got their money's worth in fun as well as in in- 
struction, for Dr. Richmond's genial, off-hand manner, entirely 
unpractised, as he never faced such an audience before, soon 
resolved the meeting into a big, free-and-easy party, where any- 
body who felt that way could help out the lecturer. The enter- 
tainment was a success. That was to be expected, because Dr. 
Richmond is not only an exceptionally expert " conjurer," but he 
had in reserve two of the women whose names were for years 
sacred to the Spiritualists, Margaret and Katy Fox, now Mrs. 
Kane and Mrs. Jenkins, who added the new superstition of 
" spirit rapping " to the terrors of mysticism many years ago. 



230 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

SPIRITS WROTE HIS INTRODUCTION 

Dr. Richmond did not deliver any " set " lecture. He said 
he had forgotten his manuscript, a failing of his memory that 
was applauded. But he got the " spirits " to write an introduc- 
tion for him on an apparently clean slate. When it appeared it 
read: "Ladies and gentlemen, I am not going to add to the 
brilliant arguments pro and con that have been crowded in on 
the subject of spiritualism. I am here simply to use my best 
efforts to dispel, if possible, the greatest delusion and the most 
gigantic fraud of the nineteenth century. I am on trial — you 
are judge and jury. If I do not illustrate what I advocate, 
condemn me. If I do, to your satisfaction, give me your appro- 
bation and support." 

A man in the corner of the orchestra, with a pallid face 
adorned by a deep-black mustache and imperial, got up and asked 
with a scornful German accent : " Vat has dot got to do mit 
spiritualism.? " 

" Put him out ! " cried a unanimous gallery. 

" No, sir ! " yelled the excited Spiritualist, " I'll talk against 
you and the Fox sisters, too! " (Cheers and jeers.) 

" Now, by your talk you have washed the slate again," said 
Dr. Richmond quietly, and sure enough the writing had vanished 
as mysteriously as it came. 

Then the Doctor got together a committee of fifteen and pro- 
ceeded to perform a number of exceedingly pretty tricks. The 
audience felt a little bit " out of it " because Dr. Richmond has 
not yet learned Herrmann's knack of allowing the house to see 
everything that is going on as well as the committee sees it. But 
nearly everybody was patient and good natured, and the fifteen 
gentlemen grouped on the stage in attitudes painfully sugges- 
tive of a mob of citizens at rehearsal, got lots of encourage- 
ment, such as : " Move up, supers ! " " Break away, there ! " 
" Play ball ! " 

A MESSAGE FROM A DEAD EMPEROR 

Dr. Richmond allowed the committee to choose the name of a 
dead person. This was written on a slip of paper while the 
Doctor was off the stage. He returned with a table and a brass 
rod, and with the aid of these implements and a little brass box 
ascertained from the " spirits " that the name of the Emperor 



THE FOX SISTERS AND ROCHESTER KNOCK INGS 231 

Frederick William had been chosen, and got a beautiful slate 
message from his dead majesty. 

Next Dr. Richmond read the number of a bank note held by 
one of the committee. They drew lots to determine who should 
do the experiment, using a hatful of papers, all marked but one. 

" Fellow that draws the blank paper stuck for the drinks, eh .?" 
asked a wag in the gallery. 

The nervous looking young man who drew the blank remained 
on the stage with the " professor." His companions retired and 
left him blooming alone. He chose a note. Dr. Richmond 
scanned his face and wrote on a blackboard, 3,848,355. 

" That's not the number of the note," said the young man. 

" Oh ! The first 3 should be B." 

"Right!" 

Applause greeted this feat, and it was redoubled when the 
demonstrator successfully " mind-read " the denomination of it 
— $5. 

The Dis Debar writing-pad trick and spirit-picture trick 
were reproduced with equal success. Dr. Richmond said that a 
friend of his in Philadelphia would give $5,000 to any medium 
who would induce the spirits, in a fair and open way, and in a 
manner genuine beyond a doubt, to manifest their presence by 
even a scratch an inch long on a slate. 

Then he introduced Margaret Fox Kane, a little, compact 
woman, dark eyed, and dark haired, and dressed in black, and 
using eyeglasses with black cord and heavy black rims. Her 
sister Katy sat in a stage box and was a silent, attentive, and as- 
senting witness of what Margaret said and did. 

Mrs. Kane was highly excited, and spoke in a tragic way that 
made some ill-mannered wit address her as " Jimmy Owen 
O'Conor," which somewhat detracted from the effect of her 
solemn public renunciation of spiritualism, declaration of its 
falsehood, and resolution to tell " the truth, the whole truth, and 
nothing but the truth, so help me God." This declaration was 
carefully written out, and Mrs. Kane delivered it in a frag- 
mentary and mirth-provoking style, scanning a sentence by the 
aid of her eyeglasses, then turning to the audience and slowly 
repeating it. 

SHE DID THE RAPPING WITH HER BIG TOE 

After that she sat on a chair, with her feet on a sounding-^ 



232 HISTORICAL SKETCHES OF WESTERN NEW YORK 

board, so that the raps might be distinctly heard, and Dr. Rich- 
mond explained that the lady did the knocking with her big toe. 
A committee of physicians, among whom was Dr. Dinsmore, 
examined her feet, amid titters and blushes in the orchestra and 
irreverent remarks from the gallery. She had slipped off a 
shoe to facilitate this scientific investigation, and putting the 
stockinged foot on the board, the audience heard a series of 
raps, " rat-tat-tat-tat-tat," increasing in sound from faint to 
loud, and apparently traveling up the wall and along the roof 
of the Academy. Then she got down to the orchestra floor and 
repeated the experiment successfully there. Going back on the 
stage, she stood upright on the board, adjured the " kind, dear 
spirits," and there was a rain or rather a hailstorm of responsive 
knocks. 

Of course there was a punster around to suggest that spiritu- 
alism " isn't worth a rap any longer." The exposure was cer- 
tainly thorough and successful, and Dr. Richmond received the 
congratulations of all his friends on the successful initiation 
of his anti-humbug crusade. He promised to give a materializa- 
tion " seance " in the Academy of Music by-and-by, and said it 
would be so effective and realistic that no medium could excel it. 



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